Economy
Upbeat Earnings News May Help Stocks Extend Winning Streak

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Thursday, with stocks looking to extend the upward trend seen over the past several sessions.
Upbeat earnings news from some big-name retailers may generate early buying interest on Wall Street, as the major averages seek to extend their five-session winning streak.
Traders also continue to respond to the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting, which included an outline of a plan to trim its $4.5 trillion balance sheet.
Stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, extending their recent winning streak to five sessions. With the continued advance on the day, the S&P 500 reached a new record closing high.
The major averages ended the day just off their highs of the session. The Dow climbed 74.51 points or 0.4 percent to 21,012.42, the Nasdaq advanced 24.31 points or 0.4 percent to 6,163.02 and the S&P 500 rose 5.97 points or 0.3 percent to 2,404.39.
The continued strength on Wall Street came following the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting.
The minutes of the meeting noted that growth in economic activity had slowed, although the Fed members agreed that the slower growth during the first quarter was likely to be transitory.
Most participants subsequently said it would soon be appropriate for the Fed to take another step in removing some policy accommodation.
The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates at its next meeting in mid-June, with CME Group’s FedWatch tool indicating an 83.1 percent chance of a quarter-point rate hike.
However, the minutes said members generally judged it would be prudent to await additional evidence indicating that the recent slowing in the pace of economic activity had been transitory before raising rates.
The comment may increase the focus on the economic data due to be released in the weeks leading up to the June meeting.
The Fed minutes also said staff offered a briefing on a possible approach to winding down the central bank’s $4.5 trillion balance sheet.
Nearly all policymakers expressed a favorable view of the approach, which was seen as consistent with the intention to reduce the Fed’s securities holdings in a gradual and predictable manner.
Under the proposed approach, the Fed would announce a set of gradually increasing caps on the dollar amounts of Treasury and agency securities that would be allowed to run off each month.
Only the amounts of securities repayments that exceeded the caps would be reinvested each month, the minutes said.
Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a report from the National Association of Realtors showing a bigger than expected pullback in existing home sales in the month of April.
NAR said existing home sales fell by 2.3 percent to an annual rate of 5.57 million in April after jumping by 4.2 percent to a ten-year high of 5.70 million in March. Economists had expected sales to drop to a rate of 5.65 million.
Gold stocks showed a significant turnaround over the course of the session after coming under pressure in morning trading. Reflecting the strength that emerged in the sector, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index climbed by 1.1 percent.
The rebound by gold stocks came as the price of the precious metal moved higher in electronic trading after ending the regular session lower.
Electronic storage, commercial real estate, and chemical stocks also saw some strength on the day, although buying interest was relatively subdued.
On the other hand, steel stocks saw significant weakness on the day, giving back ground after moving notably higher in the previous session. After surging up by 2.1 percent on Tuesday, the NYSE Arca Steel Index dropped by 1.5 percent
Considerable weakness was also visible among energy stocks, with the Philadelphia Oil Service Index and the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index sliding by 1.3 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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