Economy

US Stocks Open Higher on Upbeat Jobs Data

Published

6 years ago

01/11/2019

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.

Economy

Customs Street Chalks up 1.08% on Renewed Buying Pressure

Published

1 hour 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

2 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

3 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.