Economy
Disappointing Earnings News May Weigh on Wall Street
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower open on Friday, with stocks likely to move back to the downside following the rebound seen over the course of the previous session.
Semiconductor stocks may lead the markets lower amid a negative reaction to earnings news from graphics chip maker Nvidia (NVDA) and semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials (AMAT).
Lingering concerns about the global economic outlook as well as concerns along with renewed anxiety Brexit may also weigh on the markets.
After extending a recent downward trend early in the session, stocks showed a substantial turnaround over the course of the trading session on Thursday. The major averages bounced well off their lows of the session and firmly into positive territory.
The major averages pulled back off their best levels but held on to strong gains into the close. The Dow advanced 208.77 points or 0.8 percent to 25,289.27, the Nasdaq soared 122.64 points or 1.7 percent to 7,259.03 and the S&P 500 jumped 28.62 points or 1.1 percent to 2,730.20.
The rebound on Wall Street came amid optimism about trade after a report from the Financial Times said the U.S. and China have intensified efforts to reach a trade agreement at the G20 summit later this month.
The FT said negotiators stepped up efforts following a telephone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this month.
In a post on Twitter following the call, Trump said he had a “very good” conversation with Xi with a “heavy emphasis on trade.”
The FT said China subsequently responded to U.S. requests to address a range of sticking points, with senior U.S. and Chinese officials discussing the possibility of concessions.
One person familiar with the situation told the FT that U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had told some industry executives the next round of tariffs on Chinese imports was already on hold.
The early weakness in the markets came amid lingering concerns about the global economic outlook as well as news of the resignation of U.K. Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab.
Traders were also digesting a slew of U.S. economic data, including reports on retail sales and weekly jobless claims.
Retail sales in the U.S. increased by more than anticipated in the month of October, the Commerce Department revealed in a report.
The Commerce Department said retail sales advanced by 0.8 percent in October following a revised 0.1 percent dip in September.
Economists had expected retail sales to climb by 0.5 percent compared to the 0.1 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.
Excluding a jump in auto sales, retail sales still rose by 0.7 percent in October after edging down by 0.1 percent in September. Ex-auto sales had been expected to increase by 0.5 percent.
Meanwhile, closely watched core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, rose by 0.3 percent in October, matching the downwardly revise increase in September.
“The plunge in oil prices in recent weeks will boost households’ real disposable incomes by close to $40 billion, with surging natural gas prices likely to offset only a small fraction of that improvement in purchasing power,” said Michael Pearce, Senior U.S. Economist at Capital Economics.
“With consumer confidence still high, much of this extra cash is likely to filter through to spending on other goods and services,” he added. “But we doubt that will be enough to replace the boost from the earlier fiscal stimulus or offset all of the headwind from tighter monetary policy.”
A separate report from the Labor Department showed a slight increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended November 10th.
The report said initial jobless claims inched up to 216,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 214,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 212,000.
The Labor Department also released a report showing import and export prices both rose by more than expected in the month of October.
The Labor Department said import prices climbed by 0.5 percent in October after rising by a downwardly revised 0.2 in September.
Economists had expected import prices to inch up by 0.1 percent compared to the 0.5 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
The report also said export prices rose by 0.4 percent in October after coming in unchanged in September. Export prices had also been expected to tick up by 0.1 percent.
Reports released by the Federal Reserve Banks of New York and Philadelphia showed mixed readings on the pace of growth in regional manufacturing activity in the month of November.
Semiconductor stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the session, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 3.3 percent.
Significant strength also emerged among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 2.9 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. The index rebounded after ending the previous session at a seven-month closing low.
Gold stocks extended yesterday’s rally amid a continued increase by the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surging up by 2.1 percent.
Software, steel, networking and banking stocks also moved notably higher on the day, while considerable weakness remained visible among interest rate-sensitive utilities and housing stocks.
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market firmed up by 1.13 per cent on Friday as appetite for Nigerian stocks remained strong.
Investors reacted well to the 2026 budget presentation of President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly yesterday, especially because of the more realistic crude oil benchmark of $64 per barrel compared with the ambitious $75 per barrel for 2025. This year, prices have been between $60 and $65 per barrel.
Business Post observed profit-taking in the commodity and energy sectors as they respectively shed 0.14 per cent and 0.03 per cent.
But, bargain-hunting in the others sustained the positive run, with the consumer goods index up by 3.82 per cent.
Further, the industrial goods space appreciated by 1.46 per cent, the banking counter improved by 0.08 per cent, and the insurance industry gained 0.04 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,694.33 points to 152,057.38 points from 150,363.05 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N1.080 trillion to finish at N96.937 trillion compared with Thursday’s closing value of N95.857 trillion.
A total of 34 shares ended on the advancers’ chart, while 24 were on the laggards’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
Austin Laz gained 10.00 per cent to close at N2.42, Union Dicon also jumped 10.00 per cent to N6.60, Tantalizers increased by 9.80 per cent to N2.69, Aluminium Extrusion improved by 9.78 per cent to N12.35, and Champion Breweries grew by 9.71 per cent to N16.95.
Conversely, Sovereign Trust Insurance dipped by 7.42 per cent to N3.87, Royal Exchange lost 6.84 per cent to trade at N1.77, Omatek slipped by 6.84 per cent to N1.09, Eunisell depreciated by 5.88 per cent to N80.00, and Eterna dropped 5.63 per cent to close at N28.50.
Yesterday, traders transacted 1.5 billion units worth N21.8 billion in 25,667 deals compared with the 839.8 million units sold for N32.8 billion in 23,211 deals in the preceding session, showing a surge in the trading volume by 76.61 per cent, an uptick in the number of deals by 10.58 per cent, and a shrink in the trading value by 33.54 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three stocks stretched the bearish run of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.21 per cent on Friday, December 19, with the market capitalisation giving up N26.01 billion to close at N2.121 billion compared with the N2.147 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropping 43.47 points to 3,546.41 points from 3,589.88 points.
The trio of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, and NASD Plc overpowered the gains printed by four other securities.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N6.00 to sell at N54.00 per unit versus N60.00 per unit, NASD Plc shrank by N3.50 to N58.50 per share from N55.00 per share, and CSCS Plc depleted by N2.91 to N33.87 per unit from N36.78 per unit.
On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc gained N1.01 to close at N13.00 per share versus N11.99 per share, Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 70 Kobo to N7.68 per unit from N6.98 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc added 39 Kobo to sell at N5.50 per share versus N5.11 per share, and IPWA Plc rose by 8 Kobo to 85 Kobo per unit from 77 Kobo per unit.
During the trading day, market participants traded 1.9 million securities versus the previous day’s 30.5 million securities showing a decline of 49.3 per cent. The value of trades went down by 64.3 per cent to N80.3 million from N225.1 million, but the number of deals jumped by 32.1 per cent to 37 deals from 28 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc finished the session as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units traded for N4.9 billion.
The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was still InfraCredit Plc with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira at the two major foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday as it suffered a heavy loss against the United States Dollar at the close of transactions.
In the black market segment, the Naira weakened against its American counterpart yesterday by N10 to quote at N1,485/$1, in contrast to the N1,475/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the GTBank forex counter, it depreciated by N2 to settle at N1,467/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,465/$1.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) window, which is also the official market, the nation’s legal tender crashed against the greenback by N6.65 or 0.46 per cent to close at N1,464.49/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,457.84/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency tumbled against the Euro in the spot market by N2.25 to sell for N1,714.63/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,712.38/€1, but appreciated against the Pound Sterling by 73 Kobo to finish at N1,957.30/£1 compared with the N1,958.03/£1 it was traded in the preceding session.
The market continues to face seasonal pressure even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is still conducting FX intervention sales, which have significantly reduced but not remove pressure from the Naira. Also, there seems to be reduced supply from exporters, foreign portfolio investors and non-bank corporate inflows.
President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented the government’s N58.47 trillion budget plan aimed at consolidating economic reforms and boosting growth.
The budget is based on a projected crude oil price of $64.85 a barrel and includes a target oil output of 1.84 million barrels a day. It also projects an exchange rate of N1,400 to the Dollar.
President Tinubu said inflation had plunged to an annual rate of 14.45 per cent in November from 24.23 per cent in March, while foreign reserves had surged to a seven-year high of $47 billion.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was dominated by the bulls but it continues to face increased pressure after million in liquidations in previous session over accelerating declines, with Dogecoin (DOGE) recovering 4.2 per cent to trade at $0.1309.
Further, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $1.90, Cardano (ADA) rose by 3.5 per cent to $0.3728, Solana (SOL) jumped by 3.4 per cent to $126.23, Ethereum (ETH) climbed by 2.9 per cent to $2,982.42, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 2.0 per cent to sell for $853.06, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 1.7 per cent to $88,281.21, and Litecoin (LTC) soared by 1.2 per cent to $76.50, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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