Economy
US Stocks Open Higher on Trade Talk Optimism
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a higher opening on Friday, with stocks likely to extend the recovery from yesterday?s early weakness.
Renewed optimism about U.S.-China trade talks may generate some early buying interest after a report from CNBC said negotiations are set to resume October 10th in Washington.
A person close to the talks said Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will be representing the delegation from Beijing at the meetings.
The U.S. and China held deputy-level trade talks last week, although Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called off a trip by Chinese officials to U.S. farms.
Stocks regained ground after coming under pressure in morning trading on Thursday but still ended the day moderately lower. With the pullback on the day, the major averages partly offset the notable gains posted on Wednesday.
While the major averages climbed well off their worst levels, they still closed in negative territory. The Dow fell 79.59 points or 0.3 percent to 26,891.12, the Nasdaq slid 46.72 points or 0.6 percent to 8,030.66 and the S&P 500 dipped 7.25 points or 0.2 percent to 2,977.62.
The weakness on Wall Street came amid renewed political uncertainty following the release of the whistleblower complaint that sparked the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
The document outlines concerns about Trump “using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election.”
“This interference includes, among other things, pressuring a foreign country to investigate one of the President’s main domestic political rivals,” the complaint reads.
The complaint relates to Trump’s calls on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to conduct an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination.
On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released its final report on U.S. gross domestic product in the second quarter, showing the pace of GDP growth was unrevised from the previous estimate.
The report said real GDP increased at an annual rate of 2.0 in the second quarter, unchanged from the previous estimate and in line with economist estimates.
The unrevised 2.0 percent GDP growth in the second quarter still reflects a notable slowdown compared to the 3.1 percent jump in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, a separate report from the National Association of Realtors showed a much bigger than expected rebound in pending home sales in the month of August.
NAR said its pending home sales index surged up by 1.6 percent to 107.3 in August after plunging by 2.5 percent to 105.6 in July. Economists had expected pending home sales to climb by 0.9 percent.
A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.
Energy stocks turned in some of the market’s worst performances on the day even though the price of crude oil climbed well off its worst levels.
Reflecting the weakness in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index tumbled by 2.7 percent, the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index slumped by 1.4 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index fell by 1.1 percent.
Significant weakness also emerged among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 2.2 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. The index ended the session at an eight-month closing low.
Steel, gold, and brokerage stocks also saw notable weakness on the day, while most of the other major sectors showed more modest moves.
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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