Economy
US Stocks Open Higher on Upbeat Jobs Data
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a higher lower opening on Friday, as much stronger than expected jobs data washed away concerns about the economic outlook.
The futures climbed more firmly into positive territory following the release of a closely watched Labor Department report showing much stronger than expected job growth in the month of October.
The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment climbed by 128,000 jobs in October compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 89,000 jobs.
The report also showed substantial upward revisions to job growth in September and August, with revised data showing employment jumped by 180,000 jobs and 219,000 jobs, respectively.
With the upward revisions, employment gains in September and August combined were 95,000 more than previously reported.
Despite the stronger than expected job growth, the report said the unemployment rate inched up to 3.6 percent in October from 3.5 percent in September. The uptick matched economist estimates.
The unemployment rate crept up from the nearly 50-year low hit in the previous month as a 325-person jump in the size of the labor force more than offset a 241,000-person increase in the household survey measure of employment.
After ending Wednesday’s trading moderately higher, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Thursday. With the drop on the day, the S&P 500 pulled back off Wednesday’s record closing high.
The major averages staged a recovery attempt going into the close but remained stuck in the red. The Dow slid 140.46 points or 0.5 percent to 27,046.23, the Nasdaq edged down 11.62 points or 0.1 percent to 8,292.36 and the S&P 500 fell 9.21 points or 0.3 percent to 3,037.56.
The pullback on Wall Street came amid renewed uncertainty about the potential for a long-term U.S.-China trade deal.
Optimism about phase one of a trade deal contributed to recent strength on Wall Street, but a new report from Bloomberg said Chinese officials are casting doubts about reaching a comprehensive long-term trade agreement.
People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Chinese officials have warned in private conversations that they are unwilling to budge on the thorniest issues.
In an apparent effort to calm the markets, President Donald Trump tweeted shortly before the start of trading that the U.S. and China are working on a new site to sign phase one of the trade deal.
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had been due to meet and potentially sign the deal at the APEC summit in Chile, but the Chilean President recently called off the summit due to unrest in the country.
“China and the USA are working on selecting a new site for signing of Phase One of Trade Agreement, about 60% of total deal, after APEC in Chile was canceled do to unrelated circumstances,” Trump tweeted. “The new location will be announced soon. President Xi and President Trump will do signing!”
In a separate tweet, Trump also claimed Democrats’ “Impeachment Hoax” is hurting the stock markets as the House voted to approve a resolution that establishes the procedure for the next phase of an impeachment inquiry.
Upbeat earnings news helped limit the downside for the markets, however, with Apple (AAPL) and Facebook (FB) posting notable gains after reporting better than expected quarterly results.
On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing a modest increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended October 26th.
The report said initial jobless claims rose to 218,000, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 213,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 215,000 from the 212,000 originally reported for the previous week.
A separate report from the Commerce Department showed personal income and spending both increased in line with economist estimates in the month of September.
The report said personal income increased by 0.3 percent in September after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.5 percent in August.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said personal spending edged up by 0.2 percent, matching the revised uptick seen in August.
Computer hardware stocks turned in some of the market’s worst performances on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index down by 1.8 percent.
Western Digital (WDC) led the sector lower after the hard drive maker reported better than expected fiscal first quarter results but provided disappointing guidance and announced the retirement of its CEO Steve Milligan.
Significant weakness was also visible among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent drop by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index. The weakness in the oil service sector came amid a notable decrease by the price of crude oil.
Steel stocks also saw considerable weakness amid uncertainty about a U.S.-China trade deal, moving notably lower along with transportation, chemical and financial stocks.
On the other hand, gold stocks bucked the downtrend, resulting in a 2.7 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The index ended the session at its best closing level in over a month. The rally by gold stocks came amid a sharp increase by the price of the precious metal.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
President Bola Tinubu has expressed satisfaction with the disbursement of N636 billion as loans to business owners in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country by the Bank of Industry (BoI) in 2025.
In a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, the Nigerian leader disclosed that the development validates his government’s economic reform agenda.
Over 7,000 enterprises were given soft loans worth N636 billion by the lender last year, the highest annual financing volume in the institution’s history.
A breakdown of the financing shows that N202 billion was allocated to agro-allied enterprises, N100 billion to critical national infrastructure, including broadband, power, aviation, and transportation, N79 billion to manufacturing, N77 billion to extractive industries, and N55 billion to services.
In addition, the bank deployed N73 billion in managed and matching funds on behalf of state governments and institutional partners.
Under the BoI 2025 disbursement, strategic interventions included upgrading a tomato processing facility from 3.1 metric tonnes per hour to 10 metric tonnes per hour and linking 47,508 smallholder farmers to formal processing value chains.
The bank also supported the deployment of 100 mini-grids in partnership with global development finance institutions, connecting 11,777 new customers to electricity. BOI-financed projects contributed to an estimated annual reduction of over 20,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.
“The N636 billion disbursed by the Bank of Industry in 2025 translates directly into productive capacity across Nigeria. It financed agro-processing expansion, strengthened manufacturing output, supported infrastructure delivery, and empowered thousands of enterprises across our states.
“At a time of global financing constraints, Nigeria expanded access to long-term capital for its businesses. That is a direct outcome of reform, credibility, and institutional discipline,” Mr Tinubu said.
It was observed that disbursement by business size reflects a deliberate inclusion strategy. Nano enterprises received N51 billion. Micro businesses accessed N32 billion. Small and medium enterprises received N178 billion in financing, while large enterprises accounted for N375 billion.
Under the federal government’s N200 billion MSMEs intervention programme, BoI recorded over 95 per cent performance as the disbursing institution. The Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme reached 957,400 beneficiaries in 2025 alone.
In addition, BOI’s financing activities led to the creation and retention of approximately 1.6 million jobs. The bank supported more than 7,000 MSMEs and 570 startups during the year.
Inclusive financing initiatives also recorded a measurable impact. Through the Guaranteed Loans for Women Programme, a N10 billion gender-focused facility providing up to N50 million per beneficiary, women-owned enterprises expanded access to affordable credit. Youth-owned enterprises received N12 billion in financing. Under the Rural Area Programme on Investment for Development, 880 rural-based enterprises across the 36 states and the FCT accessed over N6.5 billion.
The President further noted that BOI maintained strong asset quality, recording a non-performing loan ratio below 1.5 per cent despite macroeconomic headwinds. He also acknowledged the €2 billion syndicated facility secured in 2024 and the additional €210 million mobilised from international partners in 2025, which strengthened the Bank’s lending capacity.
“Development finance must be disciplined, measurable, and aligned with national priorities. What we are witnessing is the transition from strategy to scale.
“Our economic transformation will be built on production, value addition, and enterprise growth. We will continue to crowd in capital, deepen institutional reform, and ensure that access to finance supports real sector expansion across Nigeria,” President Tinubu stated.
He reaffirmed his administration’s resolve to consolidate reform gains and expand credit access to enterprises as part of a long-term strategy to accelerate industrialisation and inclusive economic growth.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Six equities buoyed the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 2.13 per cent on Thursday, February 12, as the market capitalisation added N49.12 billion to end at N2.357 trillion compared with the previous day’s N2.308 trillion.
In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went up by 82.09 points during the session to settle at 3,940.90 points versus Wednesday’s closing value of 3,858.81 points.
Okitipupa Plc improved its value by N22.00 yesterday to N242.00 per share from N220.00 per share, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc grew by N6.55 to N77.08 per unit from N70.53 per unit, NASD Plc rose by N4.62 to N50.88 per share from N46.26 per share, Food Concepts Plc appreciated by 29 Kobo to N3.20 per unit from N2.91 per unit, IPWA Plc advanced by 28 Kobo to N3.13 per share from N2.85 per share, and UBN Property Plc rose 1 Kobo to sell at N2.20 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N2.19 per unit.
Conversely, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc went down by N1.57 to N68.10 per share from N69.67 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc depreciated by 39 Kobo to N3.63 per unit from N4.02 per unit.
As for the activity chart, the volume of trades declined by 99.2 to 8.6 million units from 1.06 billion units, the value of transactions shrank by 88.4 per cent to N53.9 million from N465.7 million, and the number of deals decreased by 25 per cent to 42 deals from 56 deals.
CSCS Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 18.2 million units valued at N790.9 million, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.05 billion units traded at N408.6 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 29.5 million units sold for N150.9 million.
Resourcery Plc closed the session as the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.05 billion units worth N408.6 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 29.5 million units exchanged for N150.9 million, and Mass Telecom Innovation Plc with 20.1 million units transacted for N8.1 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited almost succumbed to profit-taking on Thursday, but for Seplat, which pulled its string to salvage the situation.
Seplat triggered a buying interest in its shares after informing the investing public of its intention to release its full-year results for 2025 on February 26, 2026.
It almost singlehandedly lifted the energy index by 4.64 per cent yesterday. This sector was the only one of the five with green at the close of business.
The others were in red, with the insurance space down by 1.47 per cent, the industrial goods segment went down by 1.09 per cent, the banking index closed lower by 0.13 per cent, and the consumer goods sector shrank 0.04 per cent.
Analysis showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) soared on Thursday by 441.28 points to 178,625.63 points from 178,184.35 points, and the market capitalisation grew by N283 billion to N114.660 trillion from N114.377 trillion.
Business Post reports that 46 equities were in green during the session and 35 equities ended in red, implying a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
The trio of Deap Capital, RT Briscoe, and Seplat gained 10.00 per cent each to settle at N8.69, N15.84, and N8,107.00 apiece, while Zichis rose by 9.97 per cent to N9.82, with ABC Transport surging by 9.91 per cent to N7.43.
On the flip side, NAHCO lost 9.98 per cent to trade at N148.45, Abbey Mortgage Bank depressed by 9.68 per cent to N11.20, Eterna gave up 9.50 per cent to close at N30.00, May and Baker depreciated by 9.19 per cent to N40.50, and Ecobank weakened by 8.72 per cent to N45.00.
Access Holdings was the most active stock yesterday with 52.1 million units sold for N1.3 billion, Zenith Bank exchanged 42.5 million units worth N3.3 billion, Tantalizers transacted 42.1 million units valued at N253.9 million, GTCO traded 40.8 million units worth N4.3 billion, and Deap Capital transacted 34.4 million units valued at N298.1 million.
When the closing gong was struck by 2:30 pm to signify the end of trading activity, investors had bought and sold 698.3 million shares worth N28.4 billion in 50,886 deals compared with 939.2 million shares valued at N34.0 billion exchanged in 61,279 deals a day earlier.
This showed that yesterday, the trading volume, value, and number of deals decreased by 25.65 per cent, 16.47 per cent, and 16.96 per cent, respectively.
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