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.
Economy
Okitipupa Plc, Two Others Lift Unlisted Securities Market by 0.65%
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.65 per cent gain on Friday, December 13, boosted by three equities admitted on the trading platform.
On the last trading session of the week, Okitipupa Plc appreciated by N2.70 to settle at N29.74 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N27.04 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc added N2.49 to end the session at N42.85 per unit compared with the previous day’s N40.36 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 50 Kobo to close at N16.30 per share, in contrast to the preceding session’s N15.80 per share.
Consequently, the market capitalisation added N6.89 billion to settle at N1.062 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.055 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gained 19.66 points to wrap the session at 3,032.16 points compared with 3,012.50 points recorded in the previous session.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors increased by 171.6 per cent to 1.2 million units from the 447,905 units recorded a day earlier, but the value of shares traded by the market participants declined by 19.3 per cent to N2.4 million from the N3.02 million achieved a day earlier, and the number of deals went down by 14.3 per cent to 18 deals from 21 deals.
At the close of business, Geo-Fluids Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 1.7 billion units worth N3.9 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with the sale of 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.3 million units sold for N5.3 million.
In the same vein, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 108.7 million units for N89.2 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with a turnover of 297.3 million units worth N5.3 billion.
Economy
Naira Trades N1,533/$1 at Official Market, N1,650/$1 at Parallel Market
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated further against the United States Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N1.50 or 0.09 per cent to close at N1,533.00/$1 on Friday, December 13 versus the N1,534.50/$1 it was transacted on Thursday.
The local currency has continued to benefit from the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) this month.
The implementation of the forex system comes with diverse implications for all segments of the financial markets that deal with FX, including the rebound in the value of the Naira across markets.
The system instantly reflects data on all FX transactions conducted in the interbank market and approved by the CBN.
Market analysts say the publication of real-time prices and buy-sell orders data from this system has lent support to the Naira in the official market and tackled speculation.
In the official market yesterday, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling by N12.58 to wrap the session at N1,942.19/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,954.77/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N2.44 to close at N1,612.85/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,610.41/€1.
At the black market, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the greenback on Friday by N30 to sell for N1,650/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N1,680/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was largely positive as investors banked on recent signals, including fresh support from US President-elect, Mr Donald Trump, as well as interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB).
Ripple (XRP) added 7.3 per cent to sell at $2.49, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 3.5 per cent to $728.28, Cardano (ADA) expanded by 2.4 per cent to trade at $1.11, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 2.3 per cent to $122.56, Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1.9 per cent to settle at $101,766.17, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $0.4064, Solana (SOL) soared by 0.7 per cent to $226.15 and Ethereum (ETH) advanced by 0.6 per cent to $3,925.35, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
Economy
Index Gains 0.63% as Value of Nigerian Exchange Crosses N60trn
By Dipo Olowookere
For the fourth consecutive trading session, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed higher on Friday by 0.63 per cent on sustained renewed buying pressure.
Apart from the energy and industrial goods sectors which closed flat, every other sector ended in the green territory, according to data obtained from the bourse.
Business Post reports that the insurance index appreciated by 1.52 per cent, the banking space improved by 0.63 per cent, and the consumer goods counter expanded by 0.46 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 617.47 points to settle at 99,378.06 points compared with the preceding day’s 98,760.59 points and the market capitalisation went up by 375 billion to close at N60.242 trillion, in contrast to Thursday’s closing value of N59.867 trillion.
The volume of transactions on Customs Street yesterday grew by 11.13 per cent to 544.2 million shares from the 489.7 million shares transacted a day earlier.
The value of transactions increased during the session by 49.30 per cent to N10.6 billion from N7.1 billion and the number of deals went up by 1.93 per cent to 8,464 deals from the 8,304 deals posted in the previous trading session.
The busiest equity for the trading day was Japaul with the sale of 71.7 million units valued at N158.0 million, eTranzact exchanged 70.7 million units worth N477.5 million, Tantalizers sold 57.3 million units for N101.2 million, FCMB traded 33.0 million units worth N297.3 million, and Universal Insurance transacted 27.1 million units valued at N9.6 million.
A total of 36 stocks ended on the gainers’ chart, while 15 stocks finished on the losers’ table, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
The trio of Aradel Holdings, Ikeja Hotel and Caverton gained 10.00 per cent each to trade at N550.00, N8.80, and N1.98, respectively, as Africa Prudential rose by 9.87 per cent to N17.25 and Golden Guinea Breweries soared by 9.64 per cent to N8.64.
On the flip side, Austin Laz lost 10.00 per cent to close at N1.62, ABC Transport crashed by 8.00 per cent to N1.15, Royal Exchange slumped by 7.69 per cent to 60 Kobo, Secure Electronic Technology plunged by 5.26 per cent to 54 Kobo, and The Initiates crumbled by 4.26 per cent to N2.25.
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