Economy

Yellen Testimony in Focus on Wall Street

Published

9 years ago

29/11/2017

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a mixed opening on Wednesday, as the Dow futures are up by 69 points but the Nasdaq futures are down by 4.75 points.

Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of remarks by outgoing Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

Yellen is scheduled to testify on the economic outlook before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee beginning at about 10 am ET.

In prepared remarks released ahead of her appearance, Yellen said economic growth appears to have stepped up from its subdued pace early in the year.

Yellen noted inflation has continued to run below the Fed’s 2 percent target but said recent lower readings on inflation likely reflect transitory factors.

The Fed Chair also reiterated that she expects gradual increases in interest rates will be appropriate to sustain a healthy labor market and stabilize inflation around the central bank’s objective.

Stocks saw some volatility in afternoon trading on Tuesday but managed to end the session firmly in positive territory. With the strong upward move on the day, the major averages climbed to new record closing highs.

The major averages ended the session just off their best levels of the day. The Dow surged up 255.93 points or 1.1 percent to 23,836.71, the Nasdaq climbed 33.84 points or 0.5 percent to 6,912.36 and the S&P 500 jumped 25.62 points or 1 percent to 2,627.04.

The notably higher close on Wall Street was partly due to news the Republican tax reform bill took another key step forward, as the legislation was approved by the Senate Budget Committee.

Members of the Senate Budget Committee voted 12 to 11 to advance the bill, with the vote coming down strictly along party lines.

The vote to send the bill to the Senate floor came after Republican Senators Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., dropped their objections to the bill.

The full Senate could vote on the bill as early as Thursday, although the legislation still includes significant differences from the House version.

Traders also reacted positively to remarks by Federal Reserve Chair nominee Jerome Powell, who testified before the Senate Banking Committee.

Powell told the committee he favors “tailoring” banking regulations so the largest and most complex institutions face the most stringent regulations while the burden on smaller banks is reduced.

The Fed Chair nominee also said the case for a December interest rate hike is “coming together” and said the central bank will continue reducing its $4.5 trillion balance sheet in a process that will take three or four years.

Powell repeatedly refused to comment on the potential economic impact of the Republican tax reform legislation working its way through Congress.

On the economic front, the Conference Board released a report showing an unexpected improvement in consumer confidence in the month of November.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index climbed to 129.5 in November from an upwardly revised 126.2 in October. Economists had expected the index to drop to 124.5.

With the unexpected increase, the consumer confidence index rose to its highest level since reaching 132.6 in November of 2000.

In mid-afternoon trading, some selling pressure was generated by reports that North Korea fired a ballistic missile, although traders quickly shrugged off the news.

Banking stocks showed a substantial move to the upside over the course of the session, driving the Dow Jones Banks Index up by 3.3 percent. With the jump, the index reached its best closing level in three weeks.

The rally by banking stocks partly reflected a positive reaction to Powell’s comments regarding financial regulations, which he called “tough enough.”

Significant strength also emerged among airline stocks, as reflected by the 2 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. The index reached its best closing level in over a month.

Trucking, railroad, brokerage, and housing stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

Economy

MRS Oil, FrieslandCampina Wamco Shrink NASD Index by 0.68%

Published

15 hours ago

06/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The duo of MRS Oil and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.68 per cent on Friday, June 5.

MRS Plc lost N19.00 during the session to sell at N171.00 per share compared with Thursday’s value of N190.00 per share, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N8.70 to finish at N181.68 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N190.38 per unit.

As a result, the market capitalisation further lost N22.59 billion to close at N2.607 trillion versus the N2.630 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 37.76 points to settle at 4,358.32 points, in contrast to the previous day’s 4,396.08 points.

The alternative stock market closed the last trading day of this week with a price gainer, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gained 6 Kobo to quote at N78.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N78.34 per share. However, it could not prevent the market from going down at the close of business.

Yesterday, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors went down by 50.0 per cent to 140,345 units from the preceding day’s 280,714 units, the value of stocks decreased by 16.5 per cent to N17.9 million from the previous session’s N21.5 million, and the number of deals carried out by market participants fell by 35.7 per cent to 27 deals from the 42 deals recorded on Thursday.

When trading activities closed for the day, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 billion.

GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.

Economy

NGX Index Rebounds 0.15% on Renewed Interest in Financial Stocks

Published

15 hours ago

06/06/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

Renewed interest in financial stocks and others lifted the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 0.15 per cent on Friday.

Customs Street closed higher yesterday despite the 1.37 per cent loss recorded by the consumer goods sector as a result of profit-taking.

This was offset by gains in the other key sectors of the local bourse, as the insurance counter chalked up 1,14 per cent. The banking space appreciated by 0.90 per cent, the industrial goods segment grew by 0.46 per cent, and the energy sector expanded by 0.01 per cent.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 366.00 points to 242,593.31 points from 242,227.31 points, and the market capitalisation gained N235 billion to close at N155.594 trillion compared with the previous day’s N155.359 trillion.

The trio of International Energy Insurance, Abbey Mortgage Bank, and DAAR Communications improved by 10.00 per cent each yesterday to N7.26, N9.35, and N1.98, respectively, while Zichis advanced by 9.39 per cent to N32.38, with Sovereign Trust Insurance up by 8.70 per cent to N2.50.

On the flip side, Academy Press lost 9.84 per cent to quote at N8.25, University Press depreciated by 9.73 per cent to N5.10, Africa Prudential dipped by 2.63 per cent to N12.95, Chams crumbled by 2.44 per cent to N4.00, and International Breweries slipped by 1.59 per cent to N12.35.

Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive during the session after recording 37 appreciating equities and 14 depreciating equities, implying strong investor sentiment.

Abbey Mortgage Bank led the activity chart with a turnover of 164.1 million units worth N1.5 billion, Ellah Lakes sold 76.7 million units for N767.2 million, Access Holdings transacted 44.8 million units valued at N1.1 billion, Linkage Assurance exchanged 23.0 million units worth N41.2 million, and The Initiates traded 20.2 million units for N562.1 million.

At the close of trades, market participants transacted 608.5 million units worth N32.0 billion in 53,826 deals versus the 588.5 million units valued at N27.9 billion executed in 57,352 deals in the previous session. This showed that the number of deals eased by 6.15 per cent, the volume of transactions rose by 3.40 per cent, and the value of transactions soared by 14.70 per cent.

Economy

Naira Depreciates to N1,362/$1 at Official Market

Published

15 hours ago

06/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira further depreciated against the United States Dollar by N3.46 or 0.25 per cent to N1,362.21/$1 from N1,358.75/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 5.

However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window during the session by N4.47 to trade at N1,823.59/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,828.06/£1, and gained N7.00 against the Euro to sell at N1,574.58/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,581.58/€1.

For another trading session, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the Dollar in the parallel market and the GTBank forex counter on Friday at N1,375/$1 and N1,372/$1, respectively.

The Naira is expected to remain strong in the near term, backed by a rise in external reserves, which are nearing $50 billion, enhancing analysts’ confidence about its outlook in the second half of 2026.

Heightened global uncertainty has reduced the incentive for importers and corporates to demand FX, as cautious trade weighs on import needs. Analysts estimate a $40 billion net FX position for the year, a projection anchored in oil windfall gains.

As for the cryptocurrency market, prices remained depressed following a strong US jobs report that spurred markets to price in higher-for-longer interest rates, sending Treasury yields and the dollar up while hammering stocks, especially AI-related names. Crypto markets saw heavy leverage washouts with about $1.6 billion in positions liquidated over 24 hours.

Ethereum (ETH) gave up 4.9 per cent to trade at $1,584.68, Solana (SOL) fell by 3.3 per cent to $63.22, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 1.9 per cent to $61,333.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 1.8 per cent to $0.0821, and Ripple (XRP) moderated by 1.8 per cent to $1.09.

Further, TRON (TRX) dropped 1.6 per cent to sell at $0.3197, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.0 per cent to $581.18, and Cardano (ADA) declined by 0.4 per cent to $0.1589, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) gained 0.07 to sell at $0.9997, and US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $0.9998.