Economy
Earnings, M&A News May Trigger Buying Interest on Wall Street
By Investors Hub
Early buying interest may be generated in reaction to upbeat earnings news, with fast food giant McDonald?s (MCD) moving sharply higher in pre-market trading after reporting better than expected first quarter results.
This is because the major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Monday following the lackluster performance seen last Friday.
The markets may also benefit from news on the merger-and-acquisition front, as T-Mobile (TMUS) announced an agreement to buy Sprint (S) for $26 billion.
Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to several key economic events later this week.
Stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Friday following the rally seen in the previous session. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before closing roughly flat.
The major averages ended the session on opposite sides of the unchanged line. While the Dow edged down 11.15 points or 0.1 percent to 24,311.19, the Nasdaq crept up 1.12 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 7,119.80 and the S&P 500 inched up 2.97 points or 0.1 percent to 2,669.91.
For the week, the S&P 500 closed marginally lower, while the Dow fell by 0.6 percent and the Nasdaq dipped by 0.4 percent.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders digested a mixed batch of earnings news from several big-name companies.
While tech giants Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), and Intel (INTC) reported better than expected quarterly results, energy giant ExxonMobil (XOM) reported first quarter earnings that came in below analyst estimates.
Uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates may also have kept traders on the sidelines following the release of a Commerce Department reporting showing stronger than expected economic growth in the first quarter.
The report showed GDP growth slowed to 2.3 percent in the first quarter from 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter, although the increase still exceeded economist estimates for 2.0 percent growth.
The slowdown in GDP growth came as consumer spending rose by just 1.1 percent in the first quarter compared to the 4.0 percent jump seen in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, a reading on core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, showed that the pace of price growth surged up to 2.5 percent in the first quarter from 1.9 percent in the fourth quarter.
“With clear signs that inflation is rising pretty rapidly now, the Fed will need to tighten more aggressively this year and that will lay the seeds for an economic slowdown starting next year,” said Paul Ashworth, Chief U.S. Economist at Capital Economics.
A separate report from the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the deteriorated by less than initially estimated in the month of April.
The report said the consumer sentiment index for April was upwardly revised to 98.8 from the preliminary reading of 97.8.
The upwardly revised reading exceeded economist estimates of 98.0 but still came in below the final March reading of 101.4.
Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves.
Retail stocks saw considerable strength, however, with the Dow Jones Retail Index climbing by 1.6 percent. With the gain, the index reached its best closing level in over a month.
Online retail giant Amazon led the retail sector higher after reporting first quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
Significant strength was also visible among telecom stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Telecom Index. The index is bounced off its lowest closing level in over four months.
While real estate and transportation stocks also saw notable strength, steel stocks showed a substantial move to the downside, dragging the NYSE Arca Steel Index down by 2.1 percent. The index pulled back off its best closing level in well over a month.
U.S. Steel (X) led the sector lower after reporting better than expected first quarter earnings but providing disappointing guidance for the current quarter.
Energy stocks also saw considerable weakness on the day amid a modest decrease by the price of crude oil.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange suffered its fifth decline for this week on Friday after it closed lower by 0.09 per cent, with the Unlisted Security Index (NSI) down by 8.91 points to 3,639.10 points from 3,642.22 points and the market capitalisation declining by N1.86 billion to end N2.177 trillion compared with the previous day’s N2.179 trillion.
Yesterday, the bourse recorded three price losers led by NASD Plc, which crumbled by N4.00 to close at N55.00 per share compared with the previous day’s N59.00 per share, as FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by 68 Kobo to N66.23 per unit from Thursday’s closing price of N66.91 per unit, as Mass Telecom Innovation Plc lost 4 Kobo to end at 40 Kobo per share versus the preceding day’s 44 Kobo per share.
On the flip side, there were two price gainers led by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which added 21 Kobo to close at N40.81 per unit compared with the previous session’s N40.60 per share and UBN Property Plc, which improved by 10 Kobo to N2.09 per share from N1.99 per share.
During the session, the level of activity increased as the the volume of transactions surged by 255.7 per cent to 10.2 million units from 2.9 million units, the value of trades soared by 122.0 per cent to N189.5 million from N85.4 million, and the number of deals increased by 22.5 per cent to 49 deals from the previous day’s 40 deals.
When the bourse ended for the day, CSCS Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 10.5 million units worth N427.7 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 893,553 units traded for N60.1 million, and MRS Oil Plc with 291,801 units valued at N58.3 million.
However, CSCS Plc took over as the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 10.5 million units old for N427.7 million, as Geo-Fluids Plc slipped to second place with 7.7 million units worth N52.4 million, and Mass Telecom Innovation Plc occupied the third spot with 6.2 million units transacted for N2.5 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar by 44 Kobo or 0.03 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, January 24 to sell for N1,421.63/$1 compared with the N1,422.07/$1 it was traded on Thursday.
This was buoyed by increased FX inflows from exporters as well as sustained Dollar volume from non-bank corporate, individual and other sources.
However, the Naira lost N15.61 against the Pound Sterling in the same market window yesterday to quote at N1,924.17/£1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,908.56/£1 and depreciated against the Euro by N3.60 to finish at N1,669.56/€1 versus the N1,665.96/€1 it was exchanged a day earlier.
At the GTBank forex counter, the Nigerian currency traded flat against its American counterpart at N1,430/$1, and also maintained stability against the greenback at the parallel market segment during the session at N1,485/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market took a hit as slowdown occurred, explained by large holders taking profits.
The market had seen a short lived boost after Japanese intervention sent the Yen surging against the US Dollar, a move some saw as a necessary step toward resuming a bull market in crypto.
However, investors took profit with Dogecoin (DOGE) down by 0.8 per cent to $0.1240, and Cardano (ADA) down by 0.7 per cent to $0.3585.
Further, Solana (SOL) dropped 0.6 per cent to sell at $126.89, Litecoin (LTC) depreciated by 0.5 per cent to $68.42, and Binance Coin (BNB) fell by 0.1 per cent to $890.13.
But, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 0.4 per cent to $1.91, Ethereum (ETH) rose by 0.3 per cent to $2,953.72, and Bitcoin (BTC) grew by 0.1 per cent to $89,477.58, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The House of Representatives Minority Caucus Ad-hoc Committee on Tax Laws on the Allegations of Illegal Alterations on the Gazetted Tax Laws has released an interim report on its findings, accusing the executive arm of government of removing and inserting some items in the bills passed by the parliament.
The chairman of the 7-man panel, Mr Afam Victor Ogene, in the report released on Friday, said the laws were altered after they were transmitted to the executive by the National Assembly for assent by President Bola Tinubu.
Recall that a member of the green chamber of the parliament, Mr Abdulsamad Dasuki, raised an alarm on the discrepancies in the gazetted version and the one passed by the legislative arm of government.
The Minority Caucus of the House of Reps, headed by Mr Kingsley Chinda, in a statement on December 28, 2025, vowed to “unconditionally protect the independence of the legislature and our democracy.”
It then constituted the committee on January 2, 2026, to get to the roots of all the issues surrounding the scandal.
The next day, the lower chamber of the National Assembly, through its spokesman, Mr Akintunde Rotimi, released a statement announcing that the Speaker, Mr Abbas Tajudeen, had directed the release of the four tax reform Acts; The Nigeria Tax Act, 2025; The Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025; The National Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2025; and The Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, 2025, duly signed into law by the President, for public record, verification, and reference.
The statement further added that the Speaker has also ordered an internal verification and immediate public release of the Certified Acts to eliminate doubts, restore clarity, and protect the sanctity of the legislature.
In its report yesterday, the panel said it discovered some alterations in the gazetted version, noting that, “given the anomalies, illegalities, and impunity observed, which clearly undermine the National Assembly’s constitutional powers and democracy, the committee finds the current evidence sufficient to warrant a deeper investigation. This will ensure accountability for the affront against the legislature.”
“To achieve this, the committee respectfully requests an extension to conduct a more thorough examination of the matter,” it added.
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