Economy

Wall Street Opens Higher on on Earnings News

Published

8 years ago

31/10/2018

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Wednesday, with stocks likely to extend the strong upward move seen late in the previous session.

Early buying interest may be generated in reaction to a report from payroll processor ADP showing stronger than expected private sector job growth in the month of October.

The upbeat private sector jobs data is likely to generate optimism about the Labor Department?s more closely watched monthly jobs report due to be released on Friday.

A positive reaction to earnings news from some big-name companies is also likely to benefit the markets, with General Motors (GM) and Facebook (FB) moving notably higher in pre-market trading after reporting better than expected quarterly results.

After fluctuating for much of the session, stocks moved significantly higher late in the trading day on Tuesday. The major averages climbed firmly into positive territory after turning lower over the course of the trading session on Monday.

The major averages saw further upside going into the close, ending the day just off their highs of the session. The Dow soared 431.72 points or 1.8 percent to 24,874.64, the Nasdaq jumped 111.36 points or 1.6 percent to 7,161.65 and the S&P 500 surged up 41.38 points or 1.6 percent to 2,682.63.

The sharply higher close on Wall Street came after the pullback seen on Monday dragged the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 down to six-month closing lows and the Dow fell to its lowest closing level in well over three months.

Traders once again looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels after bargain hunting efforts in the previous session were thwarted by renewed concerns about the trade war between the U.S. and China.

President Donald Trump’s prediction the U.S. will reach a “great deal” with China on trade offset some of the concerns, although the president also warned of more tariffs if a deal is not possible.

“I think that we will make a great deal with China and it has to be great, because they’ve drained our country,” Trump told Laura Ingraham of Fox News on Monday.

The comments from Trump came after a report from Bloomberg said the U.S. is preparing to announce tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports if next month’s talks between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping fail to ease the trade war.

Trump and Xi are expected to meet on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, beginning November 30th.

Positive sentiment may also have been generated by a report from the Conference Board showing a continued increase in consumer confidence in the month of September.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to 137.9 in October from a downwardly revised 135.3 in September.

Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to drop to 136.3 from the 138.4 originally reported for the previous month.

With the increase, the consumer confidence index reached its highest level since hitting 142.5 in September of 2000.

Housing stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 5 percent. The index rebounded after ending the previous session at its lowest closing level in well over a year.

Construction materials maker Vulcan Materials (VMC) led the housing sector higher after reporting better than expected third quarter results.

Significant strength was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 4.2 percent jump by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. With the gain, the index also rebounded from a more than one-year closing low.

Computer hardware, transportation, oil, and networking stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, reflecting broad based buying interest on Wall Street.

Economy

Four Securities Erase N51.17bn from NASD Exchange

Published

13 hours ago

27/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Four securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.95 per cent on Friday, erasing N41.17 billion from the bourse, which had its market capitalisation at N2.567 trillion compared with the previous session’s N2.618 trillion.

In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) decreased at the close of business by 85.28 points to 4,277.07 points from 4,362.32 points.

The price decliners were led by 11 Plc, which gave up N20.50 to sell at N200.50 per share compared with the preceding day’s N221.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dropped N16.94 to close at N155.20 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N172.14 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by N2.11 to N84.68 per share from N86.79 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 11 Kobo to end at N16.74 per unit, in contrast to the N16.85 per unit it closed a day earlier.

During the trading day, the value of transactions jumped by 172.1 per cent to N29.9 million from the preceding session’s N10.9 million, and the volume of trades soared by 136.5 per cent to 955,096 units from the previous 403,901 units, while the number of deals went down by 11.4 per cent to 31 deals from 35 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 68.6 million units sold for N4.7 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 exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.

Economy

Cautious Trading, Profit-taking Weaken Nigeria’s Stock Exchange by 0.66%

Published

14 hours ago

27/06/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The last trading session of this week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a negative note, with a 0.66 per cent loss on Friday.

This was influenced by sustained selling pressure and cautious trading, which forced investors into profit-taking.

Data obtained by Business Post showed that the energy sector fell by 4.66 per cent, the insurance counter dipped by 2.23 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.96 per cent, and the banking segment shed 0.28 per cent, while the industrial goods space remained unchanged.

At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) of Nigeria’s stock exchange went down by 1,531.81 points to 232,049.02 points from 233,580.83 points, and the market capitalisation dropped N983 billion to settle at N148.905 trillion compared with Thursday’s N149.888 trillion.

Aradel was the worst-performing equity after it lost 10.00 per cent to close at N1,417.50. International Energy Insurance slipped by 9.95 per cent to N5.79, Trans-Nationwide Express depreciated by 9.89 per cent to N3.28, eTranzact crashed by 9.79 per cent to N14.75, and UPDC slumped by 9.72 per cent to N28.12.

The best-performing equity for the day was Universal Insurance, which gained 6.32 per cent to close at N1.01, McNichols grew by 5.52 per cent to N8.60, Linkage Assurance expanded by 4.67 per cent to N1.57, NGX Group appreciated by 4.35 per cent to N120.00, and Transcorp increased by 3.62 per cent to N41.50.

As look at the activity level indicated that investors traded 388.7 million stocks worth N18.4 billion in 44,631 deals compared with the 393.7 million stocks valued at N19.2 billion executed in 45,813 deals a day earlier, representing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 1.27 per cent, 4.17 per cent, and 2.58 per cent, respectively.

Economy

Official FX Market Sees Naira Dip to N1,380.93/$1

Published

14 hours ago

27/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira recorded a loss of 82 Kobo or 0.06 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 26, exchanging at N1,380.93/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,380.11/$1.

Equally, the domestic currency further weakened against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market yesterday by N6.06 to settle at N1,824.90/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,818.84/£1, and lost N10.74 on the Euro to sell at N1,577 .58/€1 versus N1,566.84/€1.

At the GTBank forex counter, the Naira depreciated against the greenback during the session by N4 to close at N1,387/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s value of N1,383/$1, and at the parallel market, it was unchanged at N1,395/$1.

Interbank FX activity among financial institutions has fluctuated amid a sharp slowdown in forex market interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as it allows demand and supply to move the market.

Also, a stronger greenback has generally put significant pressure on emerging-market currencies.

Nigeria has accessed the first tranche of a proposed $5 billion derivatives financing arrangement with First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, the largest lender in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The $5 billion facility, approved by the National Assembly earlier this year, is part of the federal government’s plan to diversify external financing sources and reduce borrowing costs. Structured as a Total Return Swap with First Abu Dhabi Bank, proceeds are earmarked for refinancing debt and supporting infrastructure financing.

If the proceeds are brought into the country through the official FX market, the transaction will increase the currency reserves or Dollar liquidity.

At the cryptocurrency market, Solana (SOL) grew by 2.2 per cent to $71.92, Cardano (ADA) gained 1.1 per cent to trade at $0.1474, Ripple (XRP) also appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $1.05, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 0.9 per cent to $0.0755, and Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.4 per cent to $1,578.84.

On the flip side, TRON (TRX) slid 0.6 per cent to $0.3203, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 0.3 per cent to $564.33, and Bitcoin fell by 0.2 per cent to $60,219.37, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.