Economy
Chinese Stocks Rebound May Flow to Wall Street
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Friday, with stocks likely to regain ground following the sell-off seen in the previous session.
Early buying interest may generated by a rally by Chinese stocks, which rebounded strongly from an initial move to the downside despite disappointing GDP data.
Data showed Chinese GDP climbed an annual 6.5 percent in the third quarter, shy of estimates for 6.6 percent and down from 6.7 percent in the previous quarter.
However, investors reacted positively after three top Chinese financial regulators stepped in to bolster investor confidence.
The heads of the People’s Bank of China, the Securities Regulatory Commission and the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission all issued statements expressing support for the markets.
A positive reaction to upbeat earnings news from big-name companies such as Procter & Gamble (PG) and Honeywell (HON) may also contribute to initial strength on Wall Street.
Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves, however, as concerns about rising interest rates and tension between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia may continue to weigh on the markets.
After ending Wednesday?s trading roughly flat, stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages attempted a recovery after seeing early weakness but saw a significant pullback as the day progressed.
The major averages ended the day firmly in negative territory. The Dow tumbled 327.23 points or 1.3 percent to 25,379.54, the Nasdaq plunged 157.56 points or 2.1 percent to 7,485.14 and the S&P 500 slumped 40.43 points or 1.4 percent to 2,768.78.
The sell-off on Wall Street on Wall Street came after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced he will not attend an upcoming investment conference in Saudi Arabia.
“Just met with @realDonaldTrump and @SecPompeo and we have decided, I will not be participating in the Future Investment Initiative summit in Saudi Arabia,” Mnuchin said in a post on Twitter.
Mnuchin joins several other top executives and international finance leaders that have dropped out of the conference, including JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde.
The announcement by Mnuchin comes as Saudi Arabia continues to face considerable international pressure over the recent disappearance and apparent murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Lingering concerns about the outlook for interest rates also weighed on the markets as traders continued to digest the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting.
The minutes released Wednesday afternoon showed the Fed continues to favor a “gradual approach” to raising interest rates, with the meeting participants generally judging that the economy was evolving about as anticipated.
The Fed’s forecasts point to one more rate hike before the end of this year, with CME Group’s FedWatch indicating a nearly 80 percent chance of a quarter-point rate increase in December.
On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended October 13th.
The report said initial jobless claims slipped to 210,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 215,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 212,000.
A separate report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia showed manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area grew at a slightly slower rate in the month of October.
The Philly Fed said its diffusion index for current general activity edged down to 22.2 in October from 22.9 in September, although a positive reading still indicates growth in regional manufacturing activity. The index had been expected to drop to 20.0.
Meanwhile, the Conference Board released a report showing its index of leading U.S. economic indicators increased in line with economist estimates in September.
The Conference Board said its leading economic index climbed by 0.5 percent in September after rising by 0.4 percent in August.
Oil service stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 3.6 percent. With the drop, the index fell to its lowest closing level in over a month. The weakness among oil service stocks came amid a notable decrease by the price of crude oil.
Significant weakness was also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 2.8 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. Steel stocks moved lower partly due to concerns about the outlook for Chinese demand.
Transportation stocks also saw considerable weakness, resulting in a 2.6 percent drop by the Dow Jones Transportation Average.
Semiconductor, software, retail, and financial stocks also showed notables moves to the downside, reflecting broad based weakness on Wall Street.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited kicked off the week on a positive note after it closed higher by 0.58 per cent on Monday amid sustained buying pressure.
The stock market was bullish as a result of bargain-hunting activities across the key sectors of the bourse, with the energy index growing by 1.49 per cent.
Further, the insurance space expanded by 0.88 per cent, the banking counter improved by 0.86 per cent, the industrial goods sector gained 0.81 per cent, the commodity segment soared by 0.79 per cent, and the consumer goods landscape advanced by 0.57 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 946.61 points to 163,244.69 points from 162,298.08 points and the market capitalisation surged by N745 billion to N104.521 trillion from N103.776 trillion.
The market breadth index of Customs Street was positive yesterday with 49 price gainers and 20 price losers, representing a strong investor sentiment.
The quintet of eTranzact, UPDC, McNichols, Red Star Express and RT Briscoe led the gainers’ chart during the session after chalking up 10.00 per cent each to sell for N16.50, N5.50, N6.05, N11.55, and N3.96, respectively.
However, Champion Breweries topped the losers’ table after it shed 8.51 per cent to quote at N15.05, Eunisell shrank by 8.01 per cent to N156.20, Ikeja Hotel crumbled by 8.00 per cent to N36.80, Guinea Insurance depreciated by 7.30 per cent to N1.27, and Omatek moderated by 3.13 per cent to N1.24.
The activity chart had Sovereign Trust Insurance on top after a turnover of 307.5 million shares valued at N1.0 billion, Fidelity Bank followed with 158.4 million equities sold for N3.1 billion, Linkage Assurance traded 118.7 million stocks worth N213.9 million, Mutual Benefits exchanged 31.5 million shares for N130.4 million, and Lasaco Assurance transacted 31.0 million stocks valued at N79.6 million.
At the close of trades, a total of 1.2 billion equities worth N19.2 billion exchanged hands in 59,359 deals versus the 624.1 million equities valued at N18.5 billion traded in 43,816 deals last Friday, showing a spike in the trading volume, value and number of deals by 92.28 per cent, 3.78 per cent, and 35.47 per cent apiece.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices rose on Monday amid worries that Iran’s exports could decline as the sanctioned member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cracked down on anti-government demonstrations.
Brent futures increased by 53 cents or 0.8 per cent to $63.87 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures expanded by 38 cents or 0.6 per cent to $59.50 per barrel.
Iran said it was communicating with the US government as President Donald Trump weighed responses to a deadly crackdown on nationwide protests, among the stiffest challenges to clerical rule since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
On Sunday, the US president said officials may meet Iranian officials. He also threatened possible military action over lethal violence against protesters.
Iran has the world’s fourth-largest proven oil reserves, with around 9 per cent of the global total, coming only behind Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Canada. It also has the second-largest proven natural gas reserves, with 17 per cent of the global share, and is the third-largest crude producer and fourth-largest exporter within OPEC.
In recent months, Iran has produced record levels of oil, even in the face of US sanctions on its energy exports and the bombings conducted by Israel on its capital.
Despite the ongoing sanctions, Iran has gradually built up its output once again, from around 2.9 million barrels per day in 2019 to between 3.2 and 4 million barrels per day in 2024, depending on estimates.
Capping gains were expectations that supplies could rise from Venezuela, another sanctioned member of OPEC as it is expected to resume oil exports soon following the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro.
President Trump said last week the government in the South American country was set to hand over as much as 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the US.
Reuters reported that oil companies have been racing to find tankers and prepare operations to ship the crude safely.
Investors are also watching the risk of disruptions in supply in two other OPEC allies – Russia and Azerbaijan – as Ukraine’s attacks have targeted Russian energy facilities while the country faces prospects of tougher US sanctions. In Azerbaijan oil exports dropped to 23.1 million tonnes in 2025 from 24.4 million tonnes in 2024.
Market players are also looking at developments with US interest rates and the Federal Reserve after the Trump administration opened a criminal investigation into the head of the US central bank, Mr Jerome Powell.
The Federal Reserve chair called the move a “pretext” to influence interest rates, a point that the US president has always hammered upon.
Lower interest rates could boost economic growth and oil demand by reducing borrowing costs, but could hinder the central bank’s efforts to control inflation.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The N21.5 billion rights issue of Eterna Plc has commenced, with shareholders encouraged to participate in the exercise through the NGX Invest platform.
The rights issue began today, Monday, January 12, 2026, and is expected to close on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, a notice signed by the company secretary, Mr David Edet, disclosed.
Proceeds from the exercise will be deployed to support several strategic initiatives, including the expansion of Eterna’s retail network, upgrading of its lubricant blending plant, enhancement of LPG retail assets, acquisition of commercial delivery assets, expansion of aviation fuelling operations, and investments in ESG-related projects aligned with the company’s sustainability objectives.
Business Post reports that a total of 978,108,485 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each are available for grabs at the price of N22.00 each.
The stocks are being offered to existing shareholders on the basis of three new ordinary shares for every four ordinary shares held as of November 27, 2025.
Apart from buying equities of the rights issue via the NGX Invest platform, shareholders can also purchase by completing the paper participation form.
However, completed participation forms, together with payment or evidence of payment for the full amount payable, must be submitted no later than Wednesday, February 18, 2026, to any of the issuing houses or receiving agents listed in the rights circular.
The rights issue provides existing shareholders with the opportunity to increase their equity holdings in the organisation, thereby reinforcing their participation in and support for Eterna’s long-term growth strategy.
The firm disclosed in the disclosure filed to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited that the rights issue received the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
It advised shareholders “to contact their stockbrokers and/or financial advisors for further information regarding the offer.”
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