Economy

Caution Likely to Prevail Amid Focus On US-China Trade Talks

Published

7 years ago

07/01/2019

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a roughly flat opening on Monday following the roller coaster ride seen over the past few sessions.

Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves as they keep a close eye on high-level trade talks between the U.S. and China in Beijing.

Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish is leading the U.S. team at the two-day meeting, with a spokesman for China?s Foreign Ministry predicting ?positive and constructive discussions.?

News on the merger-and-acquisition front may generate some buying interest, although traders are likely to remain cautious amid the ongoing U.S. government shutdown.

Weekend meetings reportedly made little progress toward ending the impasse over funding for President Donald Trump?s controversial border wall.

Stocks showed a substantial move to the upside over the course of the trading day on Friday, more than offsetting the sharp pullback seen in the previous session. The major averages all moved significantly higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the way.

The major averages moved roughly sideways going into the close, holding on to strong gains. The Dow surged up 746.94 points or 3.3 percent to 23,433.16, the Nasdaq soared 275.35 points or 4.3 percent to 6,738.86 and the S&P 500 spiked 84.05 points or 3.4 percent to 2,531.94.

With the rally on the day, the major averages also moved notably higher for the week. While the Dow jumped by 1.6 percent, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 shot up by 2.3 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.

The rebound on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to a Labor Department report showing much stronger than expected job growth in the month of December.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment soared by 312,000 jobs in December after climbing by an upwardly revised 176,000 jobs in November.

Economists had expected employment to increase by about 177,000 jobs compared to the addition of 155,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Paul Ashworth, Chief U.S. Economist at Capital Economics, suggested the substantial job growth in December would “seem to make a mockery of market fears of an impending recession.”

“Admittedly, employment is a coincident indicator, whereas the ISM manufacturing index, which we learned yesterday fell sharply in December, is a leading indicator,” Ashworth said.

He added, “But, even allowing for that distinction, this employment report suggests the U.S. economy still has considerable forward momentum.”

The report also said the unemployment rate rose to 3.9 percent in December from 3.7 percent in November, while economists had expected the unemployment rate to come in unchanged.

However, the unexpected uptick by the unemployment rate came as the labor force jumped by 419,000 people compared to a much more modest 142,000-person increase in the household survey measure of employment.

The Labor Department said average hourly employee earnings payrolls climbed by 11 cents to $27.48 in December, reflecting a 3.2 percent increase compared to the same month a year ago.

The annual rate of growth in average hourly employee earnings in December accelerated from the 3.1 percent increase seen in November, reaching its highest level since April of 2009.

Even as the jobs data offset recent concerns about the U.S. economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell noted the central bank “will be patient” with monetary policy as it watches the economy evolve.

Powell stressed that monetary policy is not on a “preset path” after the Fed raised interest rates four times in 2018 and forecast two rate hikes in the new year.

“Particularly with muted inflation readings that we’ve seen coming in, we will be patient as we watch to see how the economy evolves,” Powell said.

The Fed chief said the central bank is always prepared to significantly shift the stance of monetary policy if incoming economic data does not meet expectations.

Powell’s comments came as part of a joint discussion with former Fed Chairs Janet Yellen and Ben Bernanke at the American Economic Association and Allied Social Science Association annual meeting in Atlanta.

The rally on Wall Street also came after China’s Commerce Ministry said China and the U.S. would hold vice ministerial level trade talks in Beijing this week.

Partly reflecting optimism about trade talks between the U.S. and China, steel stocks turned in some of the market’s best performances. Reflecting the strength in the sector, the NYSE Arca Steel Index surged up by 6.4 percent.

Considerable strength was also visible among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 5.3 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) posted a standout gain after Guggenheim Partners upgraded its rating on the biotech company’s stock to Buy from Neutral.

Oil service stocks also showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 4.6 percent. The strength in the sector came amid a notable increase by the price of crude oil.

Software, semiconductor and computer hardware stocks also saw significant strength, contributing to the rally by the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Most of the other major sectors also moved higher amid broad based buying interest.

Economy

Customs Street Chalks up 1.08% on Renewed Buying Pressure

Published

4 hours ago

06/12/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

A 1.08 per cent growth was further printed by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday on improved appetite for Nigerian stocks.

Data showed that the insurance sector lost 0.61 per cent yesterday due to profit-taking as the energy space gave up 0.08 per cent, while the commodity counter closed flat.

However, the industrial goods landscape appreciated by 2.06 per cent, the banking index improved by 1.31 per cent, and the consumer goods sector expanded by 0.83 per cent.

At the close of business on Customs Street, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,563.92 points to 147,040.07 points from 145,476.15 points and the market capitalisation went up by N996 billion to N93.722 trillion from N92.726 trillion.

UAC Nigeria led the advancers’ log yesterday after it grew by 10.00 per cent to N96.80, Transcorp Hotels jumped by 9.71 per cent to N172.80, Royal Exchange appreciated by 8.89 per cent to N1.96, Ikeja Hotel soared by 8.74 per cent to N31.10, and Veritas Kapital leapt by 8.07 per cent to N1.74.

On the flip side, Union Dicon declined by 10.00 per cent to N6.30, ABC Transport slipped by 9.88 per cent to N3.10, AXA Mansard depreciated by 7.19 per cent to N12.90, FTN Cocoa lost 4.62 per cent to trade at N4.75, and Guinea Insurance dropped 3.36 per cent to finish at N1.15.

A total of 38 stocks ended on the gainers’ table and 17 stocks finished on the losers’ table, representing a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.

Traders transacted 361.6 million equities for N14.8 billion in 21,051 deals yesterday versus the 1.9 billion equities worth N19.2 billion traded in 23,369 deals a day earlier, showing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 80.97 per cent, 22.92 per cent, and 14.20 per cent, respectively.

The busiest stock for the session was Zenith Bank with 59.5 million units worth N3.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 46.1 million units valued at N973.0 million, Fidelity Bank exchanged 29.4 million units for N560.4 million, FCMB transacted 27.9 million units worth N293.9 million, and Tantalizers sold 13.0 million units valued at N29.8 million.

Economy

Nipco, 11 Plc Crash OTC Securities Exchange by 4.76%

Published

5 hours ago

06/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Energy stocks influenced the 4.76 per cent loss recorded by the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Friday, December 5.

The culprits were the duo of 11 Plc and Nipco Plc,with the former shedding N32.17 to end at N291.83 per share compared with the previous day’s N324.00 per share, and the latter down by N21.00 to sell at N195.00 per unit versus the previous session’s N216.00 per unit.

Consequently, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) slumped by 170.16 points to 3,401.37 points from 3,571.53 points and the market capitalisation lost N101.81 billion to close at N2.035 billion from the N2.136 trillion quoted in the preceding session.

The OTC securities exchange suffered the decline yesterday despite the share prices of three companies closing green.

Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc was up by N1.80 to close at N39.80 per share compared with Thursday’s price of N38.00 per share, Air Liquide Plc appreciated by N1.09 to N11.99 per unit from N10.90 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc grew by 78 Kobo to N56.57 per share from N55.79 per share.

During the session, the volume of transactions rose by 6,885.3 per cent to 18.2 million units from 4.3 million units, the value of transactions ballooned by 10,301.7 per cent to N389.7 million from N347.2 million, but the number of deals declined by 29.7 per cent to 26 deals from 37 deals.

Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units valued at N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units worth N4.2 billion.

InfraCredit Plc also finished the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.2 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units worth N524.9 million.

Economy

Naira Depreciates to N1,450/$1 at Official Forex Market

Published

5 hours ago

06/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira depreciated further against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, December 5, as FX demand pressure mounts.

The Nigerian currency lost N2.60 or 0.18 per cent against the greenback to close at N1,450.43/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,447.83/$1.

Equally, the domestic currency declined against the Pound Sterling in the official forex market during the session by N4.48 to trade at N1,935.45/£1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,930.97/£1 and shrank against the Euro by 43 Kobo to end at N1,689.17/€1 versus the preceding session’s rate of N1,688.74/€1.

Similarly, the local currency performed badly against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX counter by N2 to close at N1,455/$1 versus Thursday’s N1,453/$1 but traded flat at the parallel market at N14.65/$1.

As the country gets into the festive period, pressure mounted on the local currency reflecting higher foreign payments and lower FX inflows.

However, there are expectations that the Nigerian currency will be stable, supported by interventions by to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the face of steady dollar Demand and inflows from Detty December festivities that will give the Naira a boost after it depreciated mildly last month.

Traders cited by Reuters expect that the Naira will trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450/$1 next week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.

As for the crypto market, it was down yesterday due to profit-taking associated with year-end trading. However, the December 1-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation by the University of Michigan fell to 4.1 per cent from 4.5 per cent previously and 4.5 per cent expected. The 5-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation fell to 3.2 per cent from 3.4 per cent previously and 3.4 per cent expected.

With the dearth of official economic data of late, these private surveys have taken on a new level of significance and the market banks of them to make decisions.

Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 5.7 per cent to $0.4142, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 5.1 per cent to $0.1394, Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 3.9 per cent to $3,039.75, Solana (SOL) declined by 3.8 per cent to $133.24, and Litecoin (LTC) fell by 3.7 per cent to $80.59.

Further, Bitcoin (BTC) went down by 2.6 per cent to sell at $89,683.72, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 2.2 per cent to $883.59, and Ripple (XRP) shrank by 2.1 per cent to $2.04, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.