Economy
American Stocks May Show Lack of Direction
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a mixed opening on Friday following the strong upward move seen in the previous session. While the Dow futures are down by 45 points, the Nasdaq futures are up by 3 points.
Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves amid some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets.
After moving lower over the two previous sessions, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside during trading on Thursday. With the upward move on the day, the Nasdaq reached a new record closing high.
The major averages ended the day firmly in positive territory. The Dow climbed 187.08 points or 0.8 percent to 23,458.36, the Nasdaq jumped 87.08 points or 1.3 percent to 6,793.29 and the S&P 500 advanced 21.02 points or 0.8 percent to 2,585.64.
The strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to better than expected quarterly results from Wal-Mart (WMT) and Cisco Systems (CSCO).
Wal-Mart and Cisco surged up by 10.9 percent 5.2 percent, respectively, after both companies beat analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
Stocks remained firmly positive after the House voted to approve the Republican tax reform bill, although final passage of legislation remains less than a certainty.
The House voted 227 to 205 in favor of their tax reform legislation known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, with the vote coming down largely along party lines.
On the U.S. economic front, first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased in the week ended November 11th, according to a report released by the Labor Department.
The report said initial jobless claims rose to 249,000, an increase of 10,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 239,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 235,000.
A separate report released by the Labor Department showed U.S. import prices rose by less than expected in the month of October.
The Labor Department said import prices rose by 0.2 percent in October after climbing by 0.8 percent in September. Economists had expected import prices to increase by 0.4 percent.
Meanwhile, the report said export prices were unchanged in October after increasing by 0.7 percent in the previous month. Export prices had been expected to climb by 0.4 percent.
Growth in Philadelphia-area manufacturing activity slowed by more than expected in the month of November, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
The Philly Fed said its diffusion index for current manufacturing activity in the region dropped to 22.7 in November from 27.9 in October.
While a positive reading still indicates growth in regional manufacturing activity, economists had expected the index to show a more modest decrease to 25.0.
The Federal Reserve also released a report showing industrial production in the U.S. increased by more than anticipated in the month of October.
The report said industrial production climbed by 0.9 percent in October after rising by an upwardly revised 0.4 percent in September.
Economists had expected production to rise by 0.5 percent compared to the 0.3 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.
Additionally, the National Association of Home Builders released a report showing an unexpected improvement in homebuilder confidence in the month of November.
The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index rose to 70 in November from 68 in October. Economists had expected the index to be unchanged.
Computer hardware stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index up by 3.7percent.
NetApp (NTAP) led the hardware sector higher after the data storage company reported fiscal second quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
Significant strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 2.3 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. Hawaiian Airlines parent Hawaiian Holdings (HA) posted a standout gain.
Networking, retail, and biotechnology stocks also saw considerable strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has defended its decision to allow Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to invest in the parent companies of their custodians, insisting that adequate safeguards are in place to protect contributors’ funds.
The director-general of the pension regulator, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, speaking on Tuesday during the Meet the Press Briefing at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the commission’s decision to relax the investment restriction followed a comprehensive risk assessment that found minimal conflict of interest.
She explained that under PenCom’s investment regulations, PFAs are only permitted to invest pension assets in carefully selected instruments that meet stringent criteria, including profitability, strong credit ratings and proven track records.
According to her, the commission regularly reviews its investment regulations, conducts routine examinations and spot checks on PFAs to ensure strict compliance with established risk management guidelines.
“PFAs cannot just go into the stock market and buy any kind of stock. There are strict guidelines. Companies must demonstrate profitability, have a proven track record and satisfy other criteria before pension funds can invest,” she said.
Ms Oloworaran noted that each PFA also operates under the oversight of a board, an investment committee and a risk management committee, providing additional layers of governance to safeguard contributors’ funds.
She said PenCom recently issued a circular allowing PFAs to invest in the parent companies of their custodians after determining that the potential conflict of interest was negligible.
The PenCom boss explained that the parent companies involved are largely Tier-1 banks, including First Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Zenith Bank, which she described as A-rated institutions with strong financial foundations.
She said the policy was intended to widen investment opportunities for pension funds without compromising safety.
Using Stanbic IBTC as an example, Ms Oloworaran explained that if its custodian is Zenith Bank, the previous restriction prevented the pension administrator from investing in Zenith Bank shares despite the bank’s strong performance.
“We reviewed the risks and any potential conflict of interest and found the risks to be very low. That is why we opened that investment window,” she said.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Analysts at Meristem Research have predicted that the inflation rate for June 2026 in Nigeria should marginally rise to 15.95 per cent on a year-on-year basis from the 15.93 per cent reported in May 2026.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is expected to release inflation numbers for last month later today, Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
In its report sighted by Business Post, Meristem Research said it expects inflationary pressures to re-emerge across key economies in the near term, as the re-escalation of the US-Iran conflict has reignited upward pressure on global oil prices.
It disclosed that this marks a sharp reversal from most of June, when the ceasefire between the two countries helped drive oil prices lower, raising expectations of some relief on the inflation front.
With conflicts now flaring up again, oil prices are likely to increase again, and the anticipated easing in energy-driven inflation may not materialise as broadly as earlier envisaged.
“Nonetheless, some relief is likely from the food segment, where robust supply conditions across major producing regions and softening demand should continue to ease food price pressures,” it stated.
The team also explained that it projected a 15.95 per cent inflation rate because of the lingering effects of persistent food price pressures.
“However, we expect core inflation to moderate as the sharp reversal in energy prices begins to filter through to transportation, distribution, and other energy-related costs, easing underlying price pressures.
“On a month-on-month basis, the combined effect of lower petrol prices, a relatively stable Naira, and the gradual pass-through of reduced energy costs across the supply chain should exert further downward pressure on inflation.
“Based on our assessment, food inflation is expected to remain the key swing factor, as seasonal pre-harvest supply constraints are likely to offset some of the gains from lower logistics costs,” it said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and Afriland Properties Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.61 per cent on Tuesday, July 14.
CSCS Plc saw its stock value drop N9.08 to close at N82.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N91.48 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc slid by 17 Kobo to sell at N15.00 per unit versus N15.70 per unit.
The losses recorded by the two securities pulled back the market capitalisation by N41.64 billion to N2.546 trillion from N2.587 trillion, and cracked the NASD Security Index (NSI) by 69.36 points to 4,242.31 points from 4,311.67 points.
It was observed that the exchange witnessed two price advancers during the session, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which gained N1.37 to end at N151.37 per share compared with the previous day’s N150.00 per share, and Food Concepts Plc chalked up 5 Kobo to settle at N2.50 per unit versus N2.45 per unit.
The volume of securities traded by market participants surged by 50.7 per cent to 13.7 million units from the previous 9.1 million units, while the value of securities went down by 79.7 per cent to N65.2 million from N320.4 million, and the number of deals crashed by 3.6 per cent to 27 deals from the previous session’s 28 deals.
At the close of transactions, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with the sale of 3.4 billion units for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc, which exchanged 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units transacted for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the trading day 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 traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
