Economy
Futures Climb Well Off Lows After Consumer Price Data
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures have climbed well off their worst levels of the morning and are currently pointing to a roughly flat opening on Thursday.
The futures were pointing to a sharply lower open earlier in the day but rebounded as treasury yields tumbled following the release of the Labor Department?s report on consumer prices in the month of September.
The Labor Department report showed consumer prices inched up by less than expected in September, while the annual rate of consumer price growth slowed to 2.3 percent in September from 2.7 percent in August.
Treasury yields have moved notably lower following the release of the data, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note sliding by 5.6 basis points to 3.169 percent.
The pullback by treasury yields may offset some of the recent concerns about the outlook for interest rates that contributed to the sell-off on Wednesday.
Stocks saw substantial weakness during trading on Wednesday following the mixed performances seen in the two previous sessions. The tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a particularly steep drop, falling to its lowest closing level in over three months.
The major averages saw further downside going into the close, ending the day just off their lows of the session. The Dow plunged 831.83 points or 3.2 percent to 25,598.74, the Nasdaq plummeted 315.97 points or 4.1 percent to 7,422.05 and the S&P 500 tumbled 94.66 points or 3.3 percent to 2,785.68.
Technology stocks helped to lead the way lower on Wall Street, with Netflix (NFLX), Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL) and Facebook (FB) all posting significant losses on the day.
The sell-off came amid lingering concerns about the outlook for interest rates following a recent increase in treasury yields.
Treasury yields moved higher on the day following the release of a Labor Department report showing a rebound in producer prices in the month of September.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand increased by 0.2 percent in September after edging down by 0.1 percent in August. Economists had expected prices to rise by 0.2 percent.
Excluding decreases in prices for food and energy, core producer prices still rose by 0.2 percent in September after slipping by 0.1 percent in August. The uptick in core prices also matched economist estimates.
The report also said the annual rate of producer price growth slowed to 2.6 percent in September from 2.8 percent in August, although the annual rate of core producer price growth accelerated to 2.5 percent from 2.3 percent.
In comments to reporters on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said he does not like the pace at which the Federal Reserve is raising interest rates.
“I like to see low interest rates,” Trump told reporters as he prepared to depart for a campaign rally in Iowa. “The Fed is doing what they think is necessary, but I don’t like what they’re doing.”
“I will say this: We’re normalizing money, and that’s good,” he added. “But I think we don’t have to go as fast.”
The comments from Trump come after the Fed raised interest rates by a quarter point to 2 to 2.25 percent last month, marking the third rate hike this year.
The Fed’s projections for future rates also pointed to one more increase in rates this year and three rate hikes next year.
Arguing that inflation has been held in check, Trump said he does not want to see Fed policy lead to a slowdown in recent economic growth.
CME Group’s FedWatch tool currently indicates an 81.4 percent chance the Fed will raise rates by another quarter point to 2.25 to 2.5 percent at its December meeting.
Energy stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the session, with a steep drop by the price of crude oil weighing on the sector.
Reflecting the weakness in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index plummeted by 5.6 percent, while the NYSE Arca Oil Index and the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index both slumped by 3.8 percent.
Substantial weakness was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 4.5 percent plunge by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The index fell to its lowest closing level in over five months.
Transportation stocks also saw significant weakness, dragging the Dow Jones Transportation Average down by 4.1 percent to a nearly three-month closing low.
Networking, retail, computer hardware, and biotechnology stocks also moved notably lower, reflecting broad based weakness on Wall Street.
Meanwhile, gold stocks were among the few groups to buck the downtrend amid an increase by the price of the precious metal.
By Bon Peter
The Area 11 Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in Onne, Rivers State surpassed its 2024 annual revenue target by N16 billion.
This information was revealed to newsmen by the Customs Area Controller of the Command, Mr Mohammed Babandede, at a news conference last week.
He also disclosed that the command recently intercepted 12 containers of illicit drugs worth over N20.30 billion concealed in various items.
According to him, the content of the seized container included 1,721,100 bottles of 100ml cough syrup codeine, 510,000 tablets of 50mg Really Extra Diclofenac, 7,100,000 tablets of 225mg Royal apple Tramadol and Tramaking, 3,461 pieces of sanitary ware fittings used for concealment, 840 pieces of Chilly cutter used for concealment, and 153 cartons of TVS rubber.
“Our vigilant officers and men have successfully intercepted and seized an additional 12 containers (40 feet) of illicit medicine.
“This is a testament to our unwavering commitment to safeguarding public health, ensuring security of our nation and compliance with Nigeria’s import regulations. This also justifies our commitment to trade facilitation, transparency, effective and efficient service,” he said.
He said last year, the command received the support of different stakeholders, thanking them for working with the agency to achieve success.
“We appreciate the continued support and collaboration of all stakeholders, including the media, in amplifying our message and efforts to combat smuggling,” he said.
Mr Babandede stated that, “It is worth noting that the morale and dedication of our officers have been significantly bolstered by the Comptroller-General of Customs’ award, recognizing Area 2 Command as the Best Command in Anti-Smuggling Operations.
“This honour has further strengthened our resolve, and I assure you that we will not relent in performing our duties to protect the lives and well-being of Nigerians.”
The customs chief said earlier last year, the command was given a revenue target of N618 billion but as of December 31, 2024, it generated N634 billion, higher than the N321 billion recorded in 2023, promising to do more in 2025.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited appreciated by 0.39 per cent on Friday as the demand for local equities continued to increase.
During the final trading session of the week, the insurance maintained its upward trend with a growth of 7.81 per cent as the banking index appreciated by 1.08 per cent, the consumer goods sector rose by 0.52 per cent, and the industrial goods counter expanded by 0.33 per cent, while the energy space went down by 0.49 per cent.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) jumped by 406.19 points to 103,586.33 points from 103,180.14 points, and the market capitalisation increased by N248 billion to N63.166 trillion from N62.918 trillion.
The bourse recorded 67 appreciating shares and 11 depreciating shares, implying a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Chams, Omatek, NCR Nigeria, Learn Africa, and Regency Alliance topped the gainers’ table after they gained 10.00 per cent each to finish at N2.31, 88 Kobo, N6.05, N4.95, and 88 Kobo, respectively.
On the flip side, TotalEnergies lost 9.74 per cent to trade at N630.00, CWG depreciated by 6.04 per cent to close at N7.00, Thomas Wyatt went down by 5.26 per cent to N1.80, ABC Transport crumbled by 4.07 per cent to N1.18, and UAC Nigeria shed 3.19 per cent to N31.90.
Yesterday, investors traded 709.3 million stocks valued at N8.2 billion in 13,593 deals compared with the 829.8 million stocks worth N5.7 billion transacted in 11,752 deals on Thursday, representing a slowdown in the trading volume by 14.52 per cent and a rise in the trading value and number of deals by 43.86 per cent and 15.67 per cent, respectively.
At the close of business, Chams topped the activity log with 58.1 million equities sold for N133.8 million, Veritas Kapital traded 55.1 million shares valued at N89.2 million, Abbey Mortgage Bank exchanged 50.1 million stocks for N165.5 million, AIICO Insurance transacted 39.7 million equities worth N68.3 million, and NPF Microfinance Bank sold 34.3 million stocks valued at N64.0 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its positive start to the year with a 0.08 per cent rise on Friday, January 3.
The market saw a gain of N840 million, with the value of the alternative bourse growing to N1.046 trillion from the N1.045 trillion it closed a day earlier as the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) made an addition of 2.43 points to wrap the session at 3,052.34 points compared with 3,049.91 points recorded at the previous session.
The appreciation posted yesterday at the NASD OTC exchange was caused by two price gainers led by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc which jumped by 2 Kobo to end at 20 Kobo per share compared with the preceding session’s 18 Kobo per share and UBN Property Plc, which improved its value by 16 Kobo to close at N1.98 per unit, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price f N1.82 per unit.
The market posted a price loser, which was FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc as it dropped 18 Kobo to finish at N39.76 share versus the previous day’s N39.94 per share.
There was an 856.6 per cent surge in the volume of securities traded in the session to 11.3 million units from the 1.2 million units traded in the preceding session.
Equally, there was a jump in the value of shares traded yesterday by 1,078.4 per cent to N56.8 million from the N4.8 million made previously, and the number of deals increased by 22.7 per cent to 27 deals from 22 deals.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc was the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 1.4 units worth N55.8 million, IGI Plc came next with 10.6 million units valued at N2.1 million, and 11 Plc was in third with 6,45 units sold for N1.4 million.
IGI Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 10.6 million units sold for N2.1 million, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc came next with 1.4 million units valued at N55.8 million, and UBN Property Plc followed with 275,740 units worth N545,965.
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