Economy
Another Early Pullback on Wall Street on Profit Taking
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a lower opening on Friday following the upward move seen for five consecutive sessions.
Profit taking may contribute to initial weakness on Wall Street along with concerns about the ongoing government shutdown and skepticism about a potential trade deal between the U.S. and China.
Stocks managed to recover from an early downward move on Thursday, however, as recent upward momentum helped the major averages extend their recent winning streak.
Early trading may be impacted by reaction to a report
from the Labor Department showing a slight drop in consumer prices in
the month of December.
After recovering from an early move to
the downside, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading
day on Thursday. With the turnaround on the day, the major averages
closed higher for the fifth consecutive session.
The major averages ended the day just off their highs of the session. The Dow advanced 122.80 points or 0.5 percent to 24,001.92, the Nasdaq rose 28.99 points or 0.4 percent to 6,986.07 and the S&P 500 climbed 11.68 points or 0.5 percent to 2,596.64.
The initial weakness on Wall Street came as traders cashed in on recent strength on Wall Street as assessments of trade talks between the U.S. and China showed no significant breakthroughs.
A statement from the office of U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the meetings were held as part of an agreement between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to engage in 90 days of negotiations with a view to achieving needed structural changes in China.
The statement said the talks included discussions on China’s pledge to purchase a substantial amount of U.S. goods and services but did not provide details about the tone or outcome of the meetings.
“The United States officials conveyed President Trump’s commitment to addressing our persistent trade deficit and to resolving structural issues in order to improve trade between our countries,” the statement said.
The statement indicated the delegation led by Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish will now report back to receive guidance on the next steps.
Meanwhile, a statement from China’s Commerce Ministry described the talks as “extensive, in-depth and detailed” and said the meetings “laid a foundation for the resolution of each others’ concerns.”
Selling pressure waned shortly after the start of trading, however, as traders remain optimistic the U.S. and China will eventually reach a long-term trade deal.
On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing a bigger than expected drop in initial jobless claims in the week ended January 5th.
The report said initial jobless claims fell to 216,000, a decrease of 17,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 233,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 225,000 from the 231.000 originally reported for the previous week.
Traders also kept an eye on remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who reiterated the Fed will be patient in raising interest rates further, noting the central bank is “waiting and watching.”
Powell also said during a discussion at the Economic Club of Washington that the Fed’s balance sheet will be “substantially smaller than it is now.”
Biotechnology stocks showed a significant move to the upside over the course of the session, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 1.6 percent. With the jump, the index reached its best closing level in over a month.
Considerable strength also emerged among interest rate-sensitive commercial real estate and utilities stocks, with the Dow Jones Real Estate Index and the Dow Jones Utility Average both climbing by 1.4 percent.
Telecom, semiconductor, and networking stocks also saw notable strength on the day, while gold stocks moved lower along with the price of the precious metal.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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