Economy
Earnings, M&A News May Trigger Buying Interest on Wall Street
By Investors Hub
Early buying interest may be generated in reaction to upbeat earnings news, with fast food giant McDonald?s (MCD) moving sharply higher in pre-market trading after reporting better than expected first quarter results.
This is because the major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Monday following the lackluster performance seen last Friday.
The markets may also benefit from news on the merger-and-acquisition front, as T-Mobile (TMUS) announced an agreement to buy Sprint (S) for $26 billion.
Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to several key economic events later this week.
Stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Friday following the rally seen in the previous session. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before closing roughly flat.
The major averages ended the session on opposite sides of the unchanged line. While the Dow edged down 11.15 points or 0.1 percent to 24,311.19, the Nasdaq crept up 1.12 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 7,119.80 and the S&P 500 inched up 2.97 points or 0.1 percent to 2,669.91.
For the week, the S&P 500 closed marginally lower, while the Dow fell by 0.6 percent and the Nasdaq dipped by 0.4 percent.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders digested a mixed batch of earnings news from several big-name companies.
While tech giants Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), and Intel (INTC) reported better than expected quarterly results, energy giant ExxonMobil (XOM) reported first quarter earnings that came in below analyst estimates.
Uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates may also have kept traders on the sidelines following the release of a Commerce Department reporting showing stronger than expected economic growth in the first quarter.
The report showed GDP growth slowed to 2.3 percent in the first quarter from 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter, although the increase still exceeded economist estimates for 2.0 percent growth.
The slowdown in GDP growth came as consumer spending rose by just 1.1 percent in the first quarter compared to the 4.0 percent jump seen in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, a reading on core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, showed that the pace of price growth surged up to 2.5 percent in the first quarter from 1.9 percent in the fourth quarter.
“With clear signs that inflation is rising pretty rapidly now, the Fed will need to tighten more aggressively this year and that will lay the seeds for an economic slowdown starting next year,” said Paul Ashworth, Chief U.S. Economist at Capital Economics.
A separate report from the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the deteriorated by less than initially estimated in the month of April.
The report said the consumer sentiment index for April was upwardly revised to 98.8 from the preliminary reading of 97.8.
The upwardly revised reading exceeded economist estimates of 98.0 but still came in below the final March reading of 101.4.
Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves.
Retail stocks saw considerable strength, however, with the Dow Jones Retail Index climbing by 1.6 percent. With the gain, the index reached its best closing level in over a month.
Online retail giant Amazon led the retail sector higher after reporting first quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
Significant strength was also visible among telecom stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Telecom Index. The index is bounced off its lowest closing level in over four months.
While real estate and transportation stocks also saw notable strength, steel stocks showed a substantial move to the downside, dragging the NYSE Arca Steel Index down by 2.1 percent. The index pulled back off its best closing level in well over a month.
U.S. Steel (X) led the sector lower after reporting better than expected first quarter earnings but providing disappointing guidance for the current quarter.
Energy stocks also saw considerable weakness on the day amid a modest decrease by the price of crude oil.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Nigerian maritime sector may soon witness the inflow of $600 million in investment from APM Terminals.
On the sidelines of the ongoing Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, the Regional President of APM Terminals for Africa-Europe, Mr Igor van den Essen, informed President Bola Tinubu that his company was interested in deepening its investment in Nigeria.
According to a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President of Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, the investment would be deployed in Apapa port modernisation, logistics infrastructure, and long-term private-sector investment in Nigeria’s maritime sector.
President Tinubu welcomed the investments, emphasising that Nigeria is repositioning itself for greater competitiveness through ongoing economic reforms and infrastructure modernisation.
He said the country is determined to move beyond structural bottlenecks and outdated systems, stressing the need for advanced technology, faster cargo processing, and improved operational efficiency across the nation’s ports.
He emphasised that Nigeria possesses the market scale, talent base, and economic potential to support globally competitive maritime and logistics infrastructure investments and called on other investors to take advantage of Nigeria’s reform outcomes.
Earlier, Mr Igor van den Essen lauded President Tinubu’s reform agenda and policy direction, which had strengthened investor confidence and created renewed momentum for long-term infrastructure investments.
He described Nigeria as a strategic stronghold within its African operations, referencing over 20 years of collaboration and substantial existing investments in the country’s port ecosystem.
He reaffirmed his company’s commitment to expanding investments in Nigeria and disclosed plans to support the development of world-class terminal infrastructure and technology-driven port operations.
He also commended Mr Tinubu for establishing the National Single Window (NSW), which has streamlined trade procedures, improved Customs coordination, and reduced delays in cargo clearance.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Dangote Petroleum Refinery has filed a new lawsuit against the federal government over the fuel import licences issued to marketers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
Last week, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) issued licences to six marketers for the importation of 720,000 metric tonnes of Premium Motor Spirit, known as petrol.
The marketers are NIPCO, AA Rano, Matrix, Shafa, Pinnacle, and Bono. The development comes amid claims by the NMDPRA that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery now supplies over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s daily petrol consumption.
Dangote said in the filing that the licences issued undermine its operations and contravene the law, which it argues allows imports only when domestic supply falls short.
Named in the suit against the country is the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Lateef Fagbemi. The federal government can only be sued via his office.
The case signals renewed tensions almost a year after Dangote withdrew an earlier lawsuit challenging similar licences. That case sought to nullify import permits issued to the NNPC and several traders.
The new filing asks the Federal High Court in Lagos to set aside import permits issued or renewed by the NMDPRA, arguing they breach an earlier order to maintain the status quo.
Dangote ended the earlier lawsuit in July 2025 without explanation, leaving unresolved questions over competition and supply in one of Africa’s largest fuel markets.
Nigeria has long relied on petrol imports due to underperforming state refineries. However, Dangote’s 650,000 barrels per day capacity refinery was touted to end that dependence.
Despite the presence of the facility, imports have continued to cover supply gaps as the refinery ramps up output.
The NMDPRA did not issue a single import licence in the first quarter of 2026 because the Dangote refinery had the capacity to meet Nigeria’s petrol demand.
Business Post gathered that only upon intervention by President Bola Tinubu were the licenses granted for the second quarter by the NMDPRA.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that Nigeria’s headline inflation rate in April 2026 rose to 15.69 per cent, beating analysts’ expectations of 15.95 per cent, as the fallout from the Iran war continued to affect the global economy.
The statistical office on Friday showed the headline inflation rate for April on a month-on-month basis was 2.13 per cent, while the food inflation rate in the review month was 16.06 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
The rise in prices comes as an energy price shock stemming from the continued conflict in the Middle East, which stoked food prices and affected relative exchange rate stability.
According to the NBS, “this can be attributed to the rate of change in the average prices of the following products: Millet whole grain, yam flour, ginger (Fresh), beef, garri, tam tuber, pepper (Fresh), cray fish, cassava tuber, Beans, Irish Potatoes, tomatoes (fresh), wheat grain (Sold loose), soya beans, guinea corn, plantain, carrots (Fresh) etc.”
“The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending April 2026, relative to the previous twelve-month average, was 17.55%, which was 17.05% points lower than the average annual rate of change recorded in April 2025 (34.60%),” the NBS said.
Analysts at Coronation Research had earlier projected that the inflation rate in Nigeria would be at 15.95 per cent on a year-on-year basis in April 2026. It added that the expected inflation rate signals a return toward the underlying disinflation trajectory and could be a pivotal data point in shaping Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) deliberations at the next policy meeting.
It also expects food inflation to further ease, as food and non-alcoholic beverages remain the dominant contributor to headline CPI, accounting for about 40 per cent of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket.
The MPC of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will meet this month, the first since the Iran War started in late February, to review core monetary policies and possibly make adjustments.
The committee reduced the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 50 basis points from 27.0 per cent to 26.5 per cent at its 304th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in February.
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