Economy
Disappointing Home Depot Sales May Weigh on Wall Street
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Tuesday, with stocks likely to give back ground after trending higher in recent sessions.
The downward momentum on Wall Street comes as traders react to earnings news from home improvement retailer Home Depot (HD).
Shares of Home Depot are moving notably lower in pre-market trading after the company reported first quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates but weaker than expected sales. Despite this, when comparing Home Depot vs. Lowes, Home Depot continues to showcase positive strengths.
After failing to sustain an early move to the upside, stocks gave back ground over the course of the trading session on Monday. The major averages pulled back well off their best levels of the day but managed to close in positive territory.
The major averages ended the day modestly higher. The Dow rose 68.24 points or 0.3 percent to 24,889.41, the Nasdaq inched up 8.43 points or 0.1 percent at 7,411.32 and the S&P 500 crept up 2.41 points or 0.1 percent to 2,730.13.
The early strength on Wall Street came amid easing trade tensions ahead of a second round of trade talks between the U.S. and China this week.
Ahead of the meeting, President Donald Trump indicated in a post on Twitter that he is working with Chinese President Xi Jinping to get Chinese telecom giant ZTE Corp. “back into business, fast.”
“President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast,” Trump tweeted. “Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!”
ZTE has been crippled by a ban on U.S. supplies to its business, and sources briefed on the matter told Reuters that China has demanded the issue be resolved as a prerequisite for broader trade negotiations.
In a subsequent tweet, Trump expressed optimism about trade talks with China despite claiming past negotiations have been one-sided in favor of Beijing.
“China and the United States are working well together on trade, but past negotiations have been so one sided in favor of China, for so many years, that it is hard for them to make a deal that benefits both countries,” Trump tweeted. “But be cool, it will all work out!”
Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, with some traders reluctant to continue buying stocks amid a lack of major U.S. economic data.
Reports on retail sales, homebuilder confidence, housing starts, and industrial production are likely to attract attention in the coming days.
Natural gas stocks saw considerable strength on the day, with the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index climbing by 1.7 percent. With the gain, the index reached its best closing level in over three months.
The advance by natural gas stocks came amid an increase by the price of the commodity, as natural gas rose $0.036 to $2.842 per million BTUs.
Significant strength was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent gain posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.
NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) posted a standout gain after a report from Bloomberg said Chinese regulators have restarted their review of Qualcomm’s (QCOM) application to acquire the chipmaker.
Biotechnology, telecom, and oil stocks also saw notable strength on the day, while real estate stocks moved to the downside.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange receded by 0.30 per cent on Tuesday, January 20 following sell-offs in five stocks on the unlisted stock trading platform.
The price losers were led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which gave up N1.71 to sell at N72.00 per share compared with the N73.71 per share it traded a day earlier.
Further, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc dropped 37 Kobo to close at N41.43 per unit versus Monday’s closing price of N41.80 per unit, Ge0-Fluids Plc lost 14 Kobo to trade at N7.00 per share compared with the previous day’s N7.14 per share, Afriland Properties Plc depreciated by 13 Kobo to trade at N14.60 per unit versus the N14.73 per unit it was exchanged a dy earlier, and UBN Property Plc declined by 11 Kobo to quote at N1.90 per share, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.01 per share.
As a result, the market capitalisation went down by N6.5 billion to N2.187 trillion from N2.194 trillion, while the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) depreciated by 10.86 points to 3,656.36 points from 3,667.22 points.
Business Post reports that yesterday, there was a price gainer, which was IPWA Plc. It gained 16 Kobo to end at N1.79 per unit versus N1.63 per unit.
During the trading day, the total value of transaction jumped by 137.5 per cent to N43.3 million from N18.2 million, while the volume of transactions decreased by 3.2 per cent to 2.6 million units from 2.7 million units, as the number of deals depreciated by 30.2 per cent to 30 deals from 43 deals.
At the close of trades, CSCS Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.6 million units worth N145.6 million, trailed by MRS Oil Plc with 278.971 units valued at N55.7 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 7.6 million units sold for N51.9 million.
Geo-Fluids Plc maintained its position as the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 7.6 million units traded for N51.9 million, followed by CSCS Plc with 3.6 million units transacted for N145.6 million, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 3.1 million units valued at N1.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira rebounded on Tuesday, January 20 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) as it appreciated against the US Dollar by 93 Kobo or 0.06 per cent to N1,419.35/$1 from Monday’s N1,420.28/$1.
However, it depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N2.43 to trade at N1,908.31/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,905.88/£1 and lost N13.53 against the Euro to finish at N1,666.31/€1 compared with the preceding session’s closing price of N1,652.78/€1.
The Nigerian currency also weakened against the Dollar at the GTBank forex counter yesterday by N5 to sell at N1,429/$1, in contrast to Monday’s exchange rate of N1,424/$1 and maintained stability at the parallel market at N1,485/$1.
Market analysts said they expect the current trading range of the Naira to remain firm in the near term supported by stronger foreign inflows driven by higher oil receipts, improved FPI participation, and consistent FX management by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Boost from exporters’ and importers’ inflows in addition to non-bank corporate supply will also help enhance liquidity.
The Dollar also faced pressure in the international market in the midst of a dispute between the US and its European allies over Greenland, which President Donald Trump said “no going back” on his campaign thereby triggering selloffs to other safe haven assets.
As for the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) dropped below $90,000 on Tuesday amid a sharp shift in global risk sentiment, triggering more than $1 billion in forced liquidations of leveraged crypto positions.
The crypto sell-off coincided with broader market jitters tied to renewed tariff threats from President Donald Trump and a sell-off in Japanese government bonds that pushed global yields higher and pressured risk assets, with the BTC down by 1.6 per cent to $89,456.08.
Ethereum (ETH) lost 4.7 per cent to trade at $2,974.67, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 4.1 per cent to $878.27, Solana (SOL) depreciated by 2.8 per cent to $128.14, Cardano (ADA) crashed by 1.9 per cent to $0.3595, Ripple (XRP) slipped by 1.8 per cent to $1.91, Litecoin (LTC) declined by 1.7 per cent to $68.92, and Dogecoin (DOGE) shrank by 1.5 per cent to $0.1251.
On the flip side, the US Dollar Tether (USDT) appreciated by 0.01 per cent to trade at $1.00, and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) gained 0.03 per cent to settle at $1.00.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited returned to green territory on Tuesday after it chalked up 0.09 per cent on the back of renewed buying pressure.
The market regained strength yesterday despite profit-taking in the banking space, which caused its index to close lower by 0.69 per cent.
Business Post reports that insurance counter was up by 2.80 per cent, the energy sector appreciated by 2.40 per cent, the commodity segment grew by 1.22 per cent, and the consumer goods industry improved by 0.03 per cent, while the industrial goods counter closed flat.
At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 144.32 points to 166,256.82 points from 166,112.50 points and the market capitalisation gained N93 billion to finish at N106.436 trillion compared with the N106.343 trillion it settled on Monday.
During the session, investors transacted 795.5 million equities valued at N20.0 billion in 45,410 deals versus the 629.6 million equities worth N14.8 billion executed in 57,858 deals a day earlier, indicating a rise in the trading volume and value by 26.35 per cent and 35.14 per cent apiece and a decline in the number of deals by 21.52 per cent.
Tantalizers was the busiest stock yesterday with a turnover of 87.0 million units valued at N300.9 million, Secure Electronic Technology traded 74.2 million units worth N87.6 million, a new member of the NGX, Zichis Agro Allied Industries, transacted 69.6 million units for N138.5 million, Zenith Bank sold 49.1 million units valued at N3.5 billion, and GTCO exchanged 39.1 million units worth N3.8 billion.
On Tuesday, the market breadth index was positive after Customs Street ended with 39 appreciating shares and 25 depreciating shares, representing a bullish investor sentiment.
Deap Capital, NPF Microfinance Bank, and Red Star Express gained 10.00 per cent each to sell for N5.39, N4.73, and N15.95 apiece, as NCR Nigeria soared by 9.97 per cent to N155.50, and Morison Industries also increased by 9.97 per cent to N6.84.
Conversely, Aluminium Extrusion lost 9.95 per cent to settle at N17.20, Jaiz Bank declined by 9.88 per cent to N7.21, FTN Cocoa shrank by 8.44 per cent to N7.05, UPDC decreased by 8.06 per cent to N5.70, and Caverton slumped by 5.59 per cent to N7.60.
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