Economy
Wall Street Opens Flat as Mid-Term Elections, Fed Meeting Draw Nearer
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a roughly flat open on Monday, with stocks likely to show a lack of direction following the strong upward move seen last week.
Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the highly anticipated midterm elections on U.S., which will decide control of both the House and Senate.
Democrats are seen as having a much better chance to claim a majority in the House than in the Senate, but controlling the lower chamber would still allow Democrats to hinder President Donald Trump?s agenda.
The Federal Reserve?s looming monetary policy announcement may also keep some traders on the sidelines, with the Fed due to announce is latest decision on Thursday.
While the Fed is widely expected to lead interest rates unchanged, traders will keep a close eye on the accompanying statement for clues about an expected rate hike in December.
After moving notably higher for a few sessions, stocks gave back some ground during the trading day on Friday. The major averages initially moved to the upside but pulled back into negative territory as the session progressed.
The major averages ended the day in the red but well off their lows of the session. The Dow fell 109.91 points or 0.4 percent to 25,270.83, the Nasdaq slumped 77.06 points or 1 percent to 7,356.99 and the S&P 500 slid 17.31 points or 0.6 percent to 2,723.06.
Despite the pullback on the day, the major averages moved significantly higher for the week. The Nasdaq surged up by 2.6 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 both jumped by 2.4 percent.
The downturn on Wall Street was led by Apple (AAPL), with the tech giant tumbling by 6.6 percent to a nearly three-month closing low.
The steep drop by Apple came after the company reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings and revenues that exceeded estimates but weaker than expected iPhone shipments.
Apple also forecast fiscal first quarter revenues of $89 to $93 billion, with the midpoint below the consensus estimate of $93 billion.
The pullback by the major averages also came as traders digested a closely watched Labor Department report showing stronger than expected job growth in the month of October.
The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment surged up by 250,000 jobs in October after rising by a downwardly revised 118,000 jobs in September. Economists had expected an increase of about 190,000 jobs.
The report also said the unemployment rate in October was unchanged from the previous month at 3.7 percent, its lowest level since hitting 3.5 percent in December of 1969.
Average hourly employee earnings rose by $0.05 to $27.30 in October, reflecting a 3.1 percent increase compared to the same month a year ago.
The annual rate of hourly earnings growth accelerated from 2.8 percent in September, reaching the fastest pace since April of 2009.
The upbeat jobs data paints of positive picture for the U.S. economy but also led to renewed concerns about the outlook for interest rates.
“The U.S. jobs market remains incredibly strong and with wages starting to accelerate, domestic price pressures will increase,” said ING Chief International Economist James Knightley.
He added, “This will keep the Federal Reserve on its path of ‘gradual’ interest rate hikes with next week’s FOMC meeting set to signal a December move.”
Traders also kept an eye on conflicting reports about the likelihood of a trade deal between the U.S. and China ahead of meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month.
Natural gas stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading session, dragging the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index down by 2.1 percent.
Within the natural gas sector, Newfield Exploration (NFX) pulled back sharply after jumping on Thursday after agreeing to be acquired by Encana (ECA) in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $5.5 billion.
Significant weakness was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent slump by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The index gave back ground after moving notably higher over the past few sessions.
Oil stocks also moved notably lower amid a continued decrease by the price of crude oil. Pharmaceutical and commercial real estate stocks also moved to the downside on the day, while telecom and steel stocks saw considerable strength.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange fell by 0.24 per cent on Friday, April 25 after the duo of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc and Afriland Properties Plc landed on the losers’ table.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N2.58 to sell at N35.37 per unit compared with the previous day’s N37.95 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 2 Kobo to close at N17.78 per share versus Thursday’s closing value of N17.80 per share.
However, Geo-Fluids Plc appreciated by 10 Kobo during the trading day to sell for N1.80 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1.70 per unit. The rise in the price of the stock could not prevent the fall of the bourse yesterday.
Consequently, the market capitalisation of the trading platform went down by N4.64 billion to N1.914 trillion from N1.918 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) declined by 7.92 points to 3,269.06 points from 3,276.98 points.
The final trading session of the week ended with a surge of 1,695.8 per cent in the volume of securities transacted to 3.7 billion units from the 206.2 milion units transacted in the previous trading day.
Equally, the value of transactions jumped by 2,592.6 per cent to N9.5 billion from N354.1 million on Thursday, and the number of deals decreased by 47.4 per cent to 20 deals from the 38 deals recorded a day earlier.
Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units sold for N520.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 259.3 million units worth N456.1 million, and Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units valued at N4.9 billion.
Also, Okitipupa Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 153.6 million units valued at N4.9 billion, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 15.6 million units worth N598.5 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 533.9 million units sold for N520.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
A 0.30 per cent fall was recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday as a result of profit-taking in the industrial goods sector.
This was mainly caused by sell-offs in Dangote Cement Plc, which released its financial statements for the first quarter of 2025 yesterday.
The cement maker lost 10.00 per cent during the session to trade at N432.00, Regency Alliance lost 8.06 per cent to close at 57 Kobo, VFD Group depreciated by 7.57 per cent to N17.10, Chams declined by 7.27 per cent to N2.04, and Sovereign Trust Insurance crashed by 6.12 per cent to 92 Kobo.
Conversely, International Breweries, Legend Internet, and Ikeja Hotel gained 10.00 per cent each to sell for N7.70, N6.82, and N12.10 apiece, Vitafoam Nigeria surged by 9.93 per cent to N44.85, and Eterna rose by 9.92 per cent to N39.90.
The industrial goods index was down by 4.73 per cent on Friday, as the others finished in green territory.
The consumer goods space rose by 2.21 per cent, the banking sector appreciated by 1.55 per cent, the insurance counter expanded by 1.50 per cent, the energy sector increased by 0.07 per cent, and the commodity industry went up by 0.04 per cent.
At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 321.21 points to 105,753.05 points from 106,074.26 points and the market capitalisation shrank by N202 billion to N66.465 trillion from N66.667 trillion.
The level of activity increased yesterday as the trading volume, value, and number of deals grew by 30.40 per cent, 94.23 per cent, and 17.64 per cent, respectively.
This was because investors transacted 428.1 million shares worth N20.2 billion in 14,284 deals compared with the 328.3 million shares valued at N10.4 billion in traded in 12,142 deals a day earlier.
GTCO led the activity chart with 60.7 million equities sold for N3.8 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 41.4 million stocks worth N829.3 million, Access Holdings exchanged 40.6 million shares valued at N968.3 million, MTN Nigeria sold 33.0 million equities for N8.2 billion, and Zenith Bank transacted 22.9 million stocks worth N1.1 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira extended its gains against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, April 25 by 0.22 per cent or N3.59 to sell for N1,599.42/$1 compared with the N1,603.01/$1 it was traded in the previous session.
The Nigerian currency also improved its value against the Euro in the official market by N1.36 to close at N1,818.53/€1 compared with Thursday’s closing price of N1,819.89/€1.
However, the domestic currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment yesterday by N1.90 to wrap the session at N2,130.44/£1 versus the preceding session’s rate of N2,128.50/£1.
At the black market segment, the Naira appreciated against the greenback on Friday by N2 to quote at N1,605/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s value of N1,607/$1.
In the cryptocurrency market, a possible regulatory progress about digital assets in the US spurred buying interest among investors during the trading session.
The chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Paul Atkins, was at a crypto roundtable on Friday and he devoted his inaugural speech to assuring the industry that he will continue to remake securities policy to favor digital assets innovation.
Litecoin (LTC) rose by 3.0 per cent to $87.24, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 2.7 per cent to $0.1862, Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 1.3 per cent to $94,687.84, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $1,797.51, Cardano (ADA) improved by 0.9 per cent to $0.7235, and Ripple (XRP) gained 0.6 per cent to close at $2.20.
On the flip side, Solana (SOL) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $151.64, and Binance Coin (BNB) lost 0.8 per cent to sell for $602.89, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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