Economy
Futures Pointing to Initial Strength on Wall Street
By Investors Hub
Major U.S. index futures are pointing to a slightly higher opening on Monday, with stocks poised to extend the upward trend seen over the past several sessions.
Stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading session on Friday following the mixed performance seen in the previous session. With the upward move on the day, the major averages once again reached new record closing highs.
The major averages finished the session firmly in positive territory. The Dow advanced 165.59 points or 0.7 percent to 23,328.63, the Nasdaq rose 23.99 points or 0.4 percent to 6,629.04 and the S&P 500 climbed 13.11 points or 0.5 percent to 2,575.21.
For the week, the Dow jumped by 2 percent, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 increased by 0.4 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.
The strength on Wall Street was partly in reaction to news that Senate Republicans approved a budget resolution that will serve as the legislative vehicle for their tax reform plan.
The non-binding budget resolution unlocks the reconciliation process, allowing Republicans to pass their tax reform plan with a simple 51-vote majority in the Senate.
The Senate voted 51 to 47 in favor of the measure, with the vote largely coming down along party lines. Senator Rand Paul, R-Ken., was the only Republican to vote against the resolution.
“This now allows for the passage of large scale Tax Cuts (and Reform), which will be the biggest in the history of our country!” President Donald Trump said in a post on Twitter.
The GOP’s tax reform plan includes a reduction in the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent as well as a consolidation in personal income tax brackets to three from seven.
Positive sentiment was also generated by a report from the National Association of Realtors showing an unexpected rebound in existing home sales in the month of September.
NAR said existing home sales climbed by 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 5.39 million in September from a rate of 5.35 million in August. Economists had expected existing home sales to drop to a rate of 5.30 million.
Among individual stocks, shares of General Electric (GE) turned higher over the course of the session even though the industrial conglomerate reported third quarter earnings well below analyst estimates and slashed its full-year earnings forecast.
The rebound by GE came after new Chief Executive John Flannery vowed to sell or spin off $20 billion worth of assets as part of “sweeping change” at the company.
Digital payments company PayPal (PYPL) posted a standout gain after the company reported third quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
On the other hand, shares of Procter & Gamble (PG) came under pressure after the consumer products giant reported better than expected fiscal first quarter earnings but on sales that came in slightly below estimates.
Banking stocks showed a strong move to the upside on the day amid optimism about tax reform, with the Dow Jones Banks Index climbing by 1.6 percent. With the gain, the index reached its best closing level in well over nine years.
First Republic Bank (FRC), People’s United Financial (PBCT), and Capital One (COF) turned in some of the banking sector’s best performances.
Significant strength was also visible among trucking stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain posted by the Dow Jones Trucking Index. The index climbed to a new record closing high.
Railroad, software, and networking stocks also saw notable strength on the day, while biotechnology stocks moved to the downside.
Within the biotech sector, Celgene (CELG) posted a steep loss after the biopharmaceutical company discontinued two studies of its drug to treat Crohn’s disease and said it would not begin a third.
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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