Economy
Brexit Deal Triggers Early Buying Interest on Wall Street
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a pointing to a higher opening on Thursday, with stocks likely to move back to the upside after ending the previous session modestly lower.
Early buying interest may be generated in reaction to news that the U.K. and EU negotiators have reached a last-minute Brexit deal.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker described the deal as ?fair and balanced? for the EU and the U.K. and urged member nations to back the agreement.
The deal could eliminate some of the Brexit uncertainty hanging over the global markets, although it remains to be seen if the agreement will be approved by U.K. lawmakers.
A positive reaction to the latest batch of earnings news may also contribute to some early strength on Wall Street.
Following the rally seen on Tuesday, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.
Eventually, the major averages finished the day modestly lower. The Dow edged down 22.82 points or 0.1 percent to 27,001.98, the Nasdaq dipped 24.52 points or 0.3 percent to 8,124.18 and the S&P 500 slipped 5.99 points or 0.2 percent to 2,989.69.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders digested mixed U.S. economic data as well as the latest batch of earnings news.
Before the start of trading, the Commerce Department released a report showing an unexpected decrease in U.S. retail sales in the month of September.
The Commerce Department said retail sales fell by 0.3 percent in September after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.6 percent in August.
The drop came as a surprise to economists, who had expected sales to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.4 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
Excluding a notable pullback in auto sales, retail sales still edged down by 0.1 percent in September after rising by a revised 0.2 percent in August.
Economists had expected ex-auto sales to rise by 0.2 percent compared to the unchanged reading originally reported for the previous month.
The drop in retail sales raised some concerns about the economic outlook but also added to optimism about further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Home Builders released a separate report showing homebuilder confidence unexpectedly climbed to its highest level in well over a year in the month of October.
The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index jumped to 71 in October after inching up to 68 in September. Economists had expected the index to come in unchanged from the previous month.
With the unexpected increase, the housing market index rose for the fourth straight month and reached its highest level since hitting a matching reading in February of 2018.
Later in the day, the Federal Reserve released its Beige Book, which said the U.S. economy expanded at only a slight to modest pace over the past month.
The Beige Book, a compilation of anecdotal evidence on economic conditions in the twelve Fed districts, noted business activity varied across the country.
Traders were also reacting to the latest batch of earnings news, with Bank of America (BAC) moving notably higher after reporting better than expected third quarter results.
Most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, contributing to the lackluster performance by the broader markets.
Steel stocks showed a significant move to the downside, however, with the NYSE Arca Steel Index slumping by 2 percent amid renewed uncertainty about a U.S.-China trade deal.
Software and semiconductor stocks also saw considerable weakness, dragging the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 1.7 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.
On the other hand, gold stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the session, resulting in a 1.8 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The rally by gold stocks came amid a notable increase by the price of the precious metal.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for 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 transacted for N415.7 million.
