Economy

Disappointing Earnings News May Weigh on Wall Street

Published

8 years ago

16/11/2018

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.

Economy

FrieslandCampina Wamco, Three Others Raise NASD OTC Exchange by 1.41%

Published

1 day ago

16/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed higher by 1.41 per cent on Friday, May 15, supported by four securities on the platform.

During the session, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc added N14.24 to its share price to sell for N159.00 per unit, in contrast to the previous day’s N144.76 per unit.

Further, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc appreciated by N1.34 to N72.34 per share from N71.00 per share, Geo-Fluids Plc improved its price by 4 Kobo to N2.94 per unit from N2.90 per unit, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc gained 1 Kobo to trade at 61 Kobo per share compared with Thursday’s closing price of 60 Kobo per share.

As a result, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rose by 58.20 points to 4,188.41 points from 4,130.21 points, and the market capitalisation soared by N34.82 billion to N2.506 trillion from N2.471 trillion on Thursday.

During the session, the volume of trades went up by 180.8 per cent to 1.2 million units from 417,349 units, and the value of transactions increased by 29.8 per cent to N29.8 million from N23.2 million, while the number of deals fell by 22.6 per cent to 24 deals from 31 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 60.8 million units exchanged for N4.1 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.9 million units valued at N1.9 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 worth N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.

Economy

Profit-taking Sinks Nigeria’s Equity Market by 0.76% as Bears Take Control

Published

1 day ago

16/05/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The bears overpowered the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday, sinking it further by 0.76 per cent when the closing gong was struck by 4 pm.

The nation’s flagship equity market was under selling pressure during the session, as investors booked profits after the shares witnessed price appreciation in the past trading sessions.

The energy sector was the most impacted, as it shed 4.43 per cent. The consumer goods index declined by 0.90 per cent, the banking counter decreased by 0.15 per cent, and the industrial goods sector lost 0.08 per cent, while the insurance counter gained 2.42 per cent, which was not enough to salvage the situation.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 1,912.19 points to 250,330.92 points from 252,243.11 points, and the market capitalisation moderated by 1.225 trillion to N160.444 trillion from N161.669 trillion.

Zichis was the worst-performing stock for the session after it gave up 9.97 per cent to close at N29.43, FTN Cocoa slipped by 9.95 per cent to N8.96, The Initiates slumped by 9.90 per cent to N32.30, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank tumbled by 9.88 per cent to N3.83, and International Energy Insurance dropped 9.71 per cent to trade at N2.79.

The best-performing stock was ABC Transport, which grew by 10.00 per cent to N6.27. May and Baker also appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N47.30, SCOA Nigeria surged by 9.98 per cent to N33.05, Trans-Nationwide Express expanded by 9.97 per cent to N7.06, and DAAR Communications jumped 9.76 per cent to N2.25.

Yesterday, investors traded 1.1 billion shares worth N44.3 billion in 65,744 deals compared with the 1.0 billion shares valued at N41.6 billion transacted in 74,822 deals a day earlier. This indicated a dip in the number of deals by 12.13 per cent, and a rise in the trading volume and value by 10.00 per cent and 6.49 per cent, respectively.

Chams was the busiest equity for the day, with 328.5 million units sold for N1.1 billion. UBA traded 61.6 million units worth N2.7 billion, First Holdco transacted 58.7 million units valued at N4.2 billion, Secure Electronic Technology exchanged 51.9 million units worth N45.0 million, and Access Holdings traded 51.8 million units valued at N1.3 billion.

Economy

Naira Weakens to N1,371/$1 at Official Market

Published

1 day ago

16/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The last trading session of the week at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) ended on a negative note for the Naira on Friday, May 15, as it lost N15 Kobo or 0.1 per cent against the Dollar to trade at N1,371.04/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,370.89/$1.

However, it further appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment yesterday by N20.77 to close at N1,830.61/£1 versus Thursday’s value of N1,851.38/£1, and gained N7.91 against the Euro to settle at N1,595.07/€1 versus N1,602.98/€1.

At the GTBank FX desk, the Naira lost N2 against the US Dollar during the session to sell at N1,383/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,381/$1, and at the black market, it remained unchanged at N1,385/$1.

The Naira is forecast to be broadly stable, supported by Dollar sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) amid steady, higher oil receipts, with the ‌market settling ⁠into a balance.

Policy direction is also expected to give the market some boost as the CBN said the new edition of the FX market guidelines will deepen liquidity, improve transparency and strengthen confidence in the country’s foreign exchange market.

According to the Governor of the CBN, Mr Yemi Cardoso, the update is due to changing global economic realities, domestic reforms and the need for a more coherent and forward-looking regulatory framework. According to him, the last edition of the FX manual was issued in 2018, making the latest review both timely and necessary.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market plunged into the red zone as rising bond yields hit risk assets across markets, while traders are increasingly betting the Federal Reserve may need to raise rates again. Rising energy prices and resurging inflation could force central banks back into tightening mode.

Cardano (ADA) shrank by 4.4 per cent to $0.2557, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 3.7 per cent to $0.1104, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 3.5 per cent to $1.41, Solana (SOL) crashed by 3.5 per cent to $87.81, and Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 3.4 per cent to $659.64.

Further, Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 2.6 per cent to $78,547.49, Ethereum (ETH) lost 2.1 per cent to quote at $2,209.19, and TRON (TRX) tumbled by 0.7 per cent to $0.3509, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.