Economy
US Stocks Lack Direction Ahead of Monthly Jobs Report
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a roughly flat opening on Thursday, with stocks likely to show a lack of direction in early trading.
The markets have recently benefited from optimistic reports regarding progress in U.S.-China trade talks, although traders may be waiting for more concrete developments.
Traders are likely to keep an eye on any news out of a meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He later today.
The looming monthly jobs report is also likely to keep traders on the sidelines, with the Labor Department scheduled to release the March data on Friday.
A day ahead of the release of the more closely watched monthly data, the Labor Department released a report showing initial jobless claims slipped to their lowest level in nearly 50 years in the week ended March 30th.
After showing a strong move to the upside in morning trading on Wednesday, stocks gave back some ground in the afternoon but still closed mostly higher. The upward move lifted the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 to their best closing levels in about six months.
The major averages all closed in positive territory, although the tech-heavy Nasdaq outperformed its counterparts. While the Nasdaq advanced 46.86 points or 0.6 percent to 7,895.55, the Dow rose 39.00 points or 0.2 percent to 26,218.13 and the S&P 500 edged up 6.16 points or 0.2 percent to 2,873.40.
The higher close on Wall Street came amid optimism about the latest round of trade talks between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He.
Ahead of the meetings, people briefed on the trade talks told the Financial Times top U.S. and Chinese officials have resolved most of the issues standing in the way of a deal to end their long-running trade dispute.
Officials are still haggling over how to implement and enforce the agreement, however, with Myron Brilliant, executive vice-president for international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, telling reporters the last 10 percent is the “hardest part.”
The Financial Times said the two sides remain apart on two key issues: the fate of existing U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods and the terms of an enforcement mechanism demanded by Washington to ensure that China abides by the deal.
Buying interest was somewhat subdued, however, as traders were also digesting a report from payroll processor ADP showing much weaker than expected private sector job growth in the month of March.
ADP said private sector employment rose by 129,000 jobs in March after jumping by an upwardly revised 197,000 jobs in February.
Economists had expected employment to increase by 170,000 jobs compared to the addition of 183,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
“The job market is weakening, with employment gains slowing significantly across most industries and company sizes,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics.
“Businesses are hiring cautiously as the economy is struggling with fading fiscal stimulus, the trade uncertainty, and the lagged impact of Fed tightening,” he added. “If employment growth weakens much further, unemployment will begin to rise.”
On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched monthly employment report, which includes both public and private sector jobs.
Employment is expected to jump by 180,000 jobs in March after inching up by just 20,000 jobs in February, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.8 percent.
A separate report from the Institute for Supply Management showed service sector growth in the U.S. cooled off in March after a significant acceleration in the previous month.
The ISM said its non-manufacturing index slid to 56.1 in March after jumping to 59.7 in February, although reading above 50 still indicates growth in the service sector.
Economists had expected the index to show a more modest pullback, with forecasts calling for the index to dip to 58.0.
Semiconductor stocks pulled back off their best levels of the day but still showed a substantial move to the upside. Reflecting the strength in the sector, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged up by 2.3 percent to a record closing high.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) spiked by 8.5 percent after Nomura Instinet initiated coverage of the chip maker’s stock with a Buy rating.
Significant strength also remained visible among chemical stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent jump by the S&P Chemical Sector Index. The index ended the session at its best closing level in six months.
Computer hardware and networking stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, contributing to the advance by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
On the other hand, tobacco and natural gas stocks fell sharply over the course of the session, dragging the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index and the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index down by 2.7 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of MRS Oil and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.68 per cent on Friday, June 5.
MRS Plc lost N19.00 during the session to sell at N171.00 per share compared with Thursday’s value of N190.00 per share, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N8.70 to finish at N181.68 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N190.38 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation further lost N22.59 billion to close at N2.607 trillion versus the N2.630 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 37.76 points to settle at 4,358.32 points, in contrast to the previous day’s 4,396.08 points.
The alternative stock market closed the last trading day of this week with a price gainer, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gained 6 Kobo to quote at N78.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N78.34 per share. However, it could not prevent the market from going down at the close of business.
Yesterday, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors went down by 50.0 per cent to 140,345 units from the preceding day’s 280,714 units, the value of stocks decreased by 16.5 per cent to N17.9 million from the previous session’s N21.5 million, and the number of deals carried out by market participants fell by 35.7 per cent to 27 deals from the 42 deals recorded on Thursday.
When trading activities closed for the day, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 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 worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
Renewed interest in financial stocks and others lifted the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 0.15 per cent on Friday.
Customs Street closed higher yesterday despite the 1.37 per cent loss recorded by the consumer goods sector as a result of profit-taking.
This was offset by gains in the other key sectors of the local bourse, as the insurance counter chalked up 1,14 per cent. The banking space appreciated by 0.90 per cent, the industrial goods segment grew by 0.46 per cent, and the energy sector expanded by 0.01 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 366.00 points to 242,593.31 points from 242,227.31 points, and the market capitalisation gained N235 billion to close at N155.594 trillion compared with the previous day’s N155.359 trillion.
The trio of International Energy Insurance, Abbey Mortgage Bank, and DAAR Communications improved by 10.00 per cent each yesterday to N7.26, N9.35, and N1.98, respectively, while Zichis advanced by 9.39 per cent to N32.38, with Sovereign Trust Insurance up by 8.70 per cent to N2.50.
On the flip side, Academy Press lost 9.84 per cent to quote at N8.25, University Press depreciated by 9.73 per cent to N5.10, Africa Prudential dipped by 2.63 per cent to N12.95, Chams crumbled by 2.44 per cent to N4.00, and International Breweries slipped by 1.59 per cent to N12.35.
Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive during the session after recording 37 appreciating equities and 14 depreciating equities, implying strong investor sentiment.
Abbey Mortgage Bank led the activity chart with a turnover of 164.1 million units worth N1.5 billion, Ellah Lakes sold 76.7 million units for N767.2 million, Access Holdings transacted 44.8 million units valued at N1.1 billion, Linkage Assurance exchanged 23.0 million units worth N41.2 million, and The Initiates traded 20.2 million units for N562.1 million.
At the close of trades, market participants transacted 608.5 million units worth N32.0 billion in 53,826 deals versus the 588.5 million units valued at N27.9 billion executed in 57,352 deals in the previous session. This showed that the number of deals eased by 6.15 per cent, the volume of transactions rose by 3.40 per cent, and the value of transactions soared by 14.70 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira further depreciated against the United States Dollar by N3.46 or 0.25 per cent to N1,362.21/$1 from N1,358.75/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 5.
However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window during the session by N4.47 to trade at N1,823.59/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,828.06/£1, and gained N7.00 against the Euro to sell at N1,574.58/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,581.58/€1.
For another trading session, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the Dollar in the parallel market and the GTBank forex counter on Friday at N1,375/$1 and N1,372/$1, respectively.
The Naira is expected to remain strong in the near term, backed by a rise in external reserves, which are nearing $50 billion, enhancing analysts’ confidence about its outlook in the second half of 2026.
Heightened global uncertainty has reduced the incentive for importers and corporates to demand FX, as cautious trade weighs on import needs. Analysts estimate a $40 billion net FX position for the year, a projection anchored in oil windfall gains.
As for the cryptocurrency market, prices remained depressed following a strong US jobs report that spurred markets to price in higher-for-longer interest rates, sending Treasury yields and the dollar up while hammering stocks, especially AI-related names. Crypto markets saw heavy leverage washouts with about $1.6 billion in positions liquidated over 24 hours.
Ethereum (ETH) gave up 4.9 per cent to trade at $1,584.68, Solana (SOL) fell by 3.3 per cent to $63.22, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 1.9 per cent to $61,333.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 1.8 per cent to $0.0821, and Ripple (XRP) moderated by 1.8 per cent to $1.09.
Further, TRON (TRX) dropped 1.6 per cent to sell at $0.3197, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.0 per cent to $581.18, and Cardano (ADA) declined by 0.4 per cent to $0.1589, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) gained 0.07 to sell at $0.9997, and US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $0.9998.
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