Economy

Choppy Trading on Wall Street Amid Mixed Economic, Geopolitical News

Published

7 years ago

28/02/2019

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat opening on Thursday, with stocks likely to continue to experience choppy trading.

Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves as they weigh better than expected U.S. economic data against disappointing news out of the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The futures recovered from earlier weakness following the release of a report from the Commerce Department showing U.S. economic growth slowed by less than expected in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Meanwhile, traders are also digesting news that the Trump-Kim summit ended abruptly without an agreement on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Trump told reporters the North Korean dictator wanted the U.S. to lift all sanctions without having to give up all of his weapons of mass destruction.

?Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety and we couldn’t do that,? Trump said. ?They were willing to de-nuke a large portion of the areas that we wanted, but we couldn’t give up all of the sanctions for that.?

?So we continue to work and we’ll see, but we had to walk away from that particular suggestion,? he added. ?We had to walk away from that.?

The president noted that the two sides will continue to work toward an agreement, although the lack of a deal at the summit may add to recent uncertainty on Wall Street.

Stocks once again recovered from an early move to the downside on Wednesday but showed a lack of direction over the remainder of the session.

The major averages spent the afternoon lingering near the unchanged line before closing mixed. While the Nasdaq inched up 5.21 points or 0.1 percent to 7,554.51, the Dow fell 72.82 points or 0.3 percent to 25,985.16 and the S&P 500 edged down 1.52 points or 0.1 percent to 2,792.38.

The early weakness on Wall Street came as comments from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer partly offset recent optimism about the U.S.-China trade talks.

Lighthizer, who is described as “hawkish” on trade, told members of the House Ways and Means Committee that China needs to go beyond pledging to buy more U.S. goods to reach to a long-term trade agreement.

“We can compete with anyone in the world, but we must have rule, enforced rules, that make sure market outcomes and not state capitalism and technology theft determine winners,” Lighthizer said.

The reaction to Lighthizer’s remarks reflected the lingering uncertainty about a potential U.S.-China trade deal even after President Donald Trump decided to postpone an increase in tariffs on Chinese imports.

Selling pressure waned as the day progressed, however, as traders kept an eye on Trump’s second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, looking for more concrete signs of progress toward the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

“Kim Jong Un and I will try very hard to work something out on Denuclearization & then making North Korea an Economic Powerhouse,” Trump said on Twitter this morning. “I believe that China, Russia, Japan & South Korea will be very helpful!”

On the U.S. economic front, the National Association of Realtors released a report showing pending home sales rebounded by much more than anticipated in the month of January.

NAR said its pending home sales index spiked by 4.6 percent to 103.2 in January after tumbling by 2.3 percent to a downwardly revised 98.7 in December. Economists had expected pending home sales to rise by 0.4 percent.

A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.

Meanwhile, a government shutdown-delayed report released by the Commerce Department showed new orders for manufactured goods rose by much less than anticipated in the month of December.

The Commerce Department said factory orders inched up by 0.1 percent in December after falling by a revised 0.5 percent in November. Economists had expected orders to climb by 0.5 percent.

Most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, contributing to the lackluster performance by the broader markets.

Gold stocks showed a significant move to the downside, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index plunging by 1.9 percent. The weakness among gold stocks came amid a decrease by the price of the precious metal.

Considerable weakness was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent drop by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

On the other hand, biotechnology stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the session, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 2.4 percent. The index jumped to its best closing level in over four months.

Economy

NASD Exchange Rises 1.22% on Sustained Bargain-Hunting

Published

1 day ago

28/02/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Strong appetite for unlisted stocks further raised the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.22 per cent on Friday, February 27.

Data revealed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) was up by 49.41 points to 4,083.87 points from 4,034.46 points, and lifted the market capitalisation by N19.56 billion to N2.433 trillion from N2.413 trillion.

The volume of securities bought and sold by investors increased by 243.0 per cent to 4.5 million units from 1.3 million units, and the number of deals grew by 15.8 per cent to 44 deals from 38 deals, while the value of securities went down by 19.7 per cent to N82.5 million from N102.8 million.

Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc ended the session as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 35.0 million units valued at N2.1 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 6.3 million units worth N1.1 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 122.8 million units transacted for N480.4 million.

Resourcery Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 1.05 billion units sold for N408.7 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 122.8 million units valued at N480.4 million, and CSCS Plc with 35.0 million units traded for N2.1 billion.

There were six price gainers yesterday led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which added N9.02 to close at N111.46 per unui compared with the previous day’s N102.44 per unit, Nipco Plc appreciated by N6.00 to N284.00 per share from N278.00 per share, CSCS Plc recouped N1.87 to sell at N70.12 per unit versus Thursday’s value of N68.25 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc improved by 17 Kobo to close at N3.18 per share versus N3.01 per share, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc advanced by 5 Kobo to sell at N50 Kobo per unit versus the preceding day’s 45 Kobo per unit, and Acorn Petroleum Plc chalked up 2 Kobo to settle at N1.34 per share, in contrast to the previous day’s N1.32 per share.

Economy

FX Liquidity Crunch Sinks Naira to N1,363/$1 at NAFEX, N1,370/$1 at Black Market

Published

1 day ago

28/02/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira performed poorly against the United States Dollar in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on February 27, closing the week without a gain.

In the black market, the domestic currency weakened against the Dollar yesterday by N5 to close at N1,370/$1 compared with Thursday’s closing price of N1,365/$1, and at the GT Bank forex desk, it lost N2 to sell N1,369/$1 versus the N1,367/$1 it was sold a day earlier.

Yesterday, the Nigerian Naira lost N3.75 or 0.26 per cent against the greenback at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) to trade at N1,363.39/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,359.82/$1.

Also, the Naira depreciated against the Euro at the official market during the session by N2.33 to quote at N1,609.22/€1 versus N1,606.89/€1, and appreciated against the Pound Sterling by N6.74 to settle at N1,836.49/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,843.23/£1.

The Naira’s latest depreciation occurred as FX demand continued to outpace available supply, intensifying pressure in the market.

In response to the negative momentum, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervened by selling Dollars to banks and other authorised dealers in an effort to stabilise the local currency. The move came barely a week after the apex bank had purchased about $190 million from the foreign exchange market to temper the Naira’s rally.

Specifically, the CBN injected $200 million into the official market between Tuesday and Wednesday through an intervention call. However, the liquidity support proved insufficient to reverse the currency’s downward trend.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market declined on Friday, with Solana (SOL) down by 10.4 per cent to $78.60, as Dogecoin (DOGE) decreased by 9.5 per cent to $0.0982.

Further, Cardano (ADA) slumped 8.9 per cent to $0.2647, Ethereum (ETH) slipped by 8.6 per cent to $1,859.10, Ripple (XRP) shrank by 8.2 per cent to $1.30, Litecoin (LTC) lost 1.4 per cent to close at $52.39, Bitcoin (BTC) slid 5.9 per cent to $63,686.39, and Binance Coin (BNB) went down by 4.9 per cent to $596.64, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.

Economy

Oil Prices Climb on Geopolitical Anxiety

Published

1 day ago

28/02/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil prices rose about 2 per cent on Friday, with traders bracing for supply disruptions as nuclear talks between the United States and Iran were without an agreement.

Brent crude futures settled at $72.48 a barrel after chalking up $1.73 or 2.45 per cent, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures finished at $67.02 a barrel, up $1.81 or 2.78 per cent.

The two sides agreed to extend indirect negotiations into next week, but traders grew sceptical that an agreement between US President Donald Trump’s administration and Iran was possible.

The US and Iran held indirect talks in Geneva on Thursday after Mr Trump ordered a military buildup in the region.

Oil prices gained during the talks, on media reports indicating that discussions had stalled over U.S. insistence on zero enrichment of uranium by Iran. However, prices eased after the mediator from Oman said the two sides had made progress.

They plan to resume negotiations with technical-level discussions scheduled next week in Vienna, Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi said on X.

Market analysts noted that geopolitical risk premiums of $8 to $10 a barrel have been built into oil prices on fears that a conflict will disrupt Middle East supply through the Strait of Hormuz, where about 20 per cent of global oil supply passes.

To cushion the impact from a possible strike, one of the world’s largest oil producers, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is set to export more of its flagship Murban crude in April, while Saudi Arabia said it would also increase oil production.

Additionally, Saudi Arabia may raise its April crude price to Asia for the first time in five months due to higher demand from India to replace Russian supplies, potentially raising it by about $1 a barrel.

Meanwhile, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) is likely to consider raising oil output by 137,000 barrels per day for April at its March 1 meeting, after suspending production increases in the first quarter.

The resumption of output increases after a three-month pause would allow Saudi Arabia and the UAE to regain market share at a time when other OPEC+ members, such as Russia and Iran, contend with Western sanctions while Kazakhstan recovers from a series of oil production setbacks.

Eight OPEC+ producers – Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria and Oman will meet at the meeting on Sunday.