Economy
Downward Momentum Persists Amid Lingering Concerns About Economy, Trade
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Monday, with stocks likely to see further downside following the sell-off seen last Friday.
The downward momentum on Wall Street comes amid lingering concerns about global economic growth as well as continued uncertainty about trade between the U.S. and China.
Traders may also be on edge ahead of the Federal Reserve?s highly anticipated monetary policy announcement scheduled for Wednesday.
The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by another quarter point, although traders are likely to closely scrutinize the central bank?s accompanying statement and forecasts for clues about future rate hikes.
Negative sentiment may also be generated in reaction to a report from the New York Federal Reserve showing a substantial slowdown in the pace of growth in regional manufacturing activity in the month of December.
Stocks have recently seen considerable volatility, however, suggesting an early move to the downside may not be the end of the day?s story for the markets.
Following the lackluster performance in the previous session, stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading day on Friday. The Dow and the S&P 500 tumbled to their lowest closing levels in seven and eight months, respectively.
The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but remained firmly negative. The Dow plunged 496.87 points or 2 percent to 24,100.51, the Nasdaq nosedived 159.67 points or 2.3 percent to 6,910.67 and the S&P 500 plummeted 50.59 points or 1.9 percent to 2,599.95.
With the steep losses on the day, the major averages also moved lower for the week. The Nasdaq slid by 0.8 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 slumped by 1.2 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.
The sell-off on Wall Street came amid renewed concerns about the outlook for global economic growth following the release of data showing disappointing industrial output and retail sales growth in China.
The latest batch of economic data showed Chinese industrial output grew at its slowest pace in nearly three years, increasing by 5.4 percent in November after growing by 5.9 percent a month earlier.
Meanwhile, retail sales in China grew 8.1 percent in November, the weakest growth since 2003. In October, retail sales were up 8.6 percent.
The slower pace of industrial output and retail sales growth was partly due to the impact of the ongoing trade dispute with the U.S.
President Donald Trump appeared to take credit for China’s disappointing economic data in a post on Twitter on Friday.
“China just announced that their economy is growing much slower than anticipated because of our Trade War with them,” Trump tweeted. “U.S. is doing very well. China wants to make a big and very comprehensive deal. It could happen, and rather soon!”
Trump seemed to reference China’s recently confirmed decision to temporarily lower tariffs on vehicles made in the U.S. to 15 percent from 40 percent.
A report showing growth in the eurozone private sector has decelerated to its slowest pace in more than four years in December added to the negative sentiment.
On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing slightly weaker than expected retail sales growth in November due to a steep drop in sales by gas stations, although underlying retail sales growth remained strong.
The Commerce Department said retail sales edged up by 0.2 percent in November after spiking by an upwardly revised 1.1 percent in October.
Economists had expected retail sales to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.8 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the report said closely watched core retail sales, which exclude autos, gasoline, building materials and food services, increased by 0.9 percent in November after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.7 percent in October.
“Along with the continued strength of the labor market, the boost to real incomes from the recent plunge in gasoline prices appears to be providing a big support to spending growth, which could continue for a few more months,” said Andrew Hunter, Senior U.S. Economist at Capital Economics.
He added, “Nonetheless, with the earlier boost from tax cuts now fading and rising interest rates likely to become an increasing drag, we still expect consumption growth to slow next year.”
A separate report from the Federal Reserve showed a much bigger than expected increase in industrial production in November, but manufacturing output was unchanged.
Oil service stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day, extending a recent sell-off. The Philadelphia Oil Service Index plunged by 4.3 percent to its lowest closing level in fifteen years. The continued weakness among oil service stocks came amid a steep stop by the price of crude oil.
Significant weakness was also visible among pharmaceutical stocks, as reflected by the 3.4 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) posted a steep loss after a report from Reuters said the healthcare giant knew for decades that its talcum baby powder supply contained asbestos.
Natural gas, software, retail and gold stocks also saw considerable weakness on the day amid a broad based sell-off on Wall Street.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose further by 0.33 per cent on Thursday, January 23, as appetite for unlisted stocks continued to grow.
During the trading session, the value of the bourse went up by N7.6 billion to N1.767 trillion from the N1.76 trillion it closed in the preceding session, as the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) made an additional 10.33 points to wrap the trading day at 3,120.3 points compared with the 3,09.80 points recorded at the midweek session.
Business Post reports that the share price of Okitipupa Plc increased on Thursday by N4.35 to end the day at N47.90 per unit compared with the previous day’s N43.55 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc gained 14 Kobo to settle at N1.74 per share, in contrast to the preceding day’s N1.60 per share.
On the flip side, Impresit Bakolori Plc suffered a decline of 10 Kobo yesterday to trade at 95 Kobo per unit versus Wednesday’s closing price of N1.05 per unit.
When the exchange closed for the session, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors went up by 70,008 per cent to 407.4 million units from the 581,160 units transacted a day earlier.
Equally, the value of shares traded during the session jumped by 16,665.9 per cent to N391.2 million from the N2.3 million recorded at midweek, and the number of deals increased by 65 per cent to 30 deals from the 20 deals posted on Wednesday.
Impresit Bakolori Plc topped the activity chart as the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 406.5 million units worth N386.1 million, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 4.3 million units valued at N170.4 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.1 million units sold for N44.3 million.
However, Impresit Bakolori Plc snatched the top spot as most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 406.5 million units worth N386.1 million, as Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc dropped to second position for selling 26.3 million units sold for N6.3 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc occupied third with 9.2 million units valued at N44.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira recovered about 0.26 per cent or N3.99 against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, January 23 after coming under pressure in recent times.
During the session, the exchange rate of the local currency to its American counterpart closed at N1,548.59/$1 in the official market compared with the previous day’s N1,552.58/$1.
Also, against the Pound Sterling, the domestic currency gained N3.32 yesterday to trade at N1,912.21/£1 compared with Wednesday’s value of N1,915.53/£1 and on the Euro, it improved by N3.82 to sell for N1,617.72/€1 versus N1,613.89/€1.
The forex market may be reacting positively to news that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would launch a FX Code, which will serve as a guideline to the banking industry to promote ethical conduct of Authorised Dealers in the Nigerian FX market, next week.
The code will further reduce speculative activities, eliminate market distortions, and give the CBN improved oversight capabilities to effectively regulate the market.
The bank noted that authorised dealers would subsequently conduct all FX transactions in the interbank FX market on the EFEMS approved by the apex bank where transactions will be reflected immediately.
However, in the black market segment, the Nigerian Naira lost N5 against the greenback during the session to quote at N1,665/$1, in contrast to midweek’s rate of N1,660/$1.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it was lively yesterday as attention is increasingly centered on potential policy developments under the government of President Donald Trump of the US.
On Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order to ban the digital dollar and promote crypto and AI innovation in the country.
Meanwhile, the US data released recently showed the “all tenant rent” index, which leads the shelter inflation in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose at a slower pace last quarter. That has raised hopes that the US Federal Reserve will walk back on its hawkish December rate forecasts.
These helped Ethereum (ETH) gain 5.4 per cent on Thursday to sell at $3,394.79, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 4.4 per cent to $260.86, Cardano (ADA) jumped by 2.9 per cent to $1.00, and Litecoin (LTC) expanded by 2.6 per cent to $116.78.
Further, Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 2.1 per cent to $1o4,978.31, Ripple (XRP) leapt by 0.7 per cent to $3.16, Dogecoin (DOGE) increased by 0.6 per cent to $0.3572, and Binance Coin (BNB) soared by 1.6 per cent to $710.31, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The global crude oil market waned on Thursday after the US President, Mr Donald Trump, urged the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to bring down the cost of the commodity during his address at the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Brent crude futures lost 71 cents or 0.9 per cent after the speech to close at $78.29 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) crude futures contracted by 82 cents or 1.09 per cent to $74.62 per barrel.
At WEF in Davos, Switzerland, President Trump announced he would ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil.
Since he took office, the uncertainty over how Mr Trump’s proposed tariffs and energy policies would affect global economic growth and energy demand have weighed on prices.
He threatened to add new tariffs to his sanctions threat against Russia if the country does not make a deal to end its war with Ukraine.
He also vowed to hit the European Union with tariffs and impose 25 per cent tariffs against Canada and Mexico.
On China, Mr Trump said his administration was discussing a 10 per cent punitive duty because fentanyl is being sent from there to the US.
On Monday, he declared a national energy emergency intended to provide him with the authority to reduce environmental restrictions on energy infrastructure and projects; and ease permitting for new transmission and pipeline infrastructure.
Market analysts say there will be more potential for a downward choppy movement in the oil market in the near term due to the Trump administration’s lack of clarity on trade tariffs policy and the impending higher oil supplies from the US.
Meanwhile, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an inventory dip of 1 million barrels for the week to January 17. In fuels, the EIA estimated mixed changes.
The change in crude inventories compared with a draw of 2 million barrels for the previous week, which also saw another round of sizable builds in fuels.
This contradicts forecasts by the American Petroleum Institute (API) which showed that on the US oil inventory front, crude stocks rose by 958,000 barrels in the week ending January 17 and added that gasoline (petrol) inventories rose by 3.23 million barrels and distillate stocks climbed by 1.88 million barrels, they said.
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