Economy
Easing Treasury Concerns May Lead To Strength On Wall Street
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Thursday on the heels of the first losing session of the new year.
Stocks may benefit from easing concerns about treasuries after China dismissed a Bloomberg News report that officials have recommended slowing or halting purchases of U.S. debt.
?The news could quote the wrong source of information, or may be fake news,? China?s State Administration of Foreign Exchange said, according to Reuters.
The SAFE said China has been diversifying its foreign currency reserves investments to help ?safeguard the overall safety of foreign exchange assets and preserve and increase their value.?
After coming under pressure early in the session, stocks regained ground over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day but still closed in negative territory.
The major averages posted modest losses on the day, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closing lower for the first time in 2018. The Dow dipped 16.67 points or 0.1 percent to 25,369.13, the Nasdaq edged down 10.01 points or 0.1 percent to 7,153.57 and the S&P 500 slipped 3.06 points or 0.1 percent to 2,748.23.
Profit taking contributed to the early weakness on Wall Street after the major averages once again climbed to new record closing highs in the previous session.
The report from Bloomberg News indicating Chinese officials have recommended slowing or halting purchases of U.S. Treasuries also weighed on the markets.
People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg the officials believe the market for U.S. government bonds is becoming less attractive relative to other assets.
The officials also think trade tensions between the U.S. and China may provide a reason to slow or stop buying American debt, the people said.
Selling pressure waned over the course of the session, however, as traders may have been concerned about missing out on any further upside.
On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing import prices rose by much less than expected in the month of December.
The Labor Department said import prices inched up by 0.1 percent in December after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.8 percent in November.
Economists had expected import prices to rise by 0.5 percent compared to the 0.7 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
The report also showed an unexpected decrease in export prices, which edged down by 0.1 percent in December after rising by 0.5 percent in November. Export prices had expected to rise by 0.3 percent.
A separate report from the Commerce Department showed wholesale inventories increased by slightly more than anticipated in the month of November.
Natural gas stocks showed a significant move to the downside over the course of the trading session, dragging the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index down by 1.4 percent.
The weakness among natural gas stocks came amid a decrease by the price of the commodity, with natural gas for February delivery falling $0.017 to $2.906 per million BTUs.
Considerable weakness was also visible among electronic storage stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index. The index pulled back further off the more than two-year closing high it set on Monday.
Semiconductor, railroad, housing, and commercial real estate stocks also saw notable weakness, contributing to the modestly lower close by the broader markets.
On the other hand, airline stocks moved substantially higher, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index climbing by 1.7 percent. The gain by the index came after it close lower for five consecutive sessions.
United Continental (UAL) led the sector higher after the airline reported increases in revenue passenger miles and available seat miles in December.
Gold and banking stocks also moved to the upside on the day, helping to offset the weakness seen in the aforementioned sectors.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange lost its gaining streak on Wednesday, July 22, after it fell by 0.24 per cent despite the presence of five price gainers.
Yesterday, the market capitalisation went down by N6.32 billion to N2.631 trillion from the previous session’s N2.637 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) depreciated by 10.49 points to 4,383.48 points from 4,393.97 points.
The poor outcome was caused by the losses recorded by two securities, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which lost N5.60 to settle at N147.55 per unit compared with Tuesday’s closing price of N153.15 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which tumbled by N1.01 to N98.32 per share from N99.33 per share.
On the flip side, Nipco Plc added N38.00 to sell at N422.00 per unit versus N384.00 per share, Afriland Properties Plc gained 75 Kobo to close at N15.76 per share versus N15.01 per share, Geo-Fluids Plc improved by 23 Kobo to N2.53 per unit from N2.30 per unit, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc appreciated by 2 Kobo to 52 Kobo per share from 50 Kobo per share, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 1 Kobo to N2.49 per unit from N2.48 per unit.
At midweek, the volume of securities surged by 3,438.9 per cent to 11.4 million units from 322,147 units, the value of securities rose by 122.2 per cent to N43.1 million from N19.4 million, and the number of deals jumped by 81.5 per cent to 49 deals from 27 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 75.4 million units exchanged for N5.4 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The domestic stock exchange slipped into the negative territory on Wednesday by 0.50 per cent after the consumer goods sector closed lower by 5.04 per cent despite the gains recorded by the other key sectors.
The insurance index shed 1.64 per cent, the banking space gained 1.51 per cent, and the industrial goods segment expanded by 0.81 per cent, while the energy counter closed flat.
At the close of business, the market capitalisation declined by N800 billion to N158.319 trillion from N159.119 trillion, and the All-Share Index (ASI) shrank by 1,241.19 points to 245,418.37 points from 246,659.56 points.
The duo of BUA Foods and Nestle Nigeria crumbled by 10.00 per cent each to N845.10 and N2,812.50, respectively. Mecure lost 9.94 per cent to trade at N69.30, International Energy Insurance slumped by 9.84 per cent to N4.40, and UAC Nigeria dipped by 7.75 per cent to N184.45.
On the flip side, the trio of Unilever Nigeria, Trans-Nationwide Express, and Cadbury Nigeria improved by 10.00 per cent each to quote at N137.50, N3.08, and N137.50, respectively. Thomas Wyatt moved up by 9.95 per cent to 4.09, and UPDC REIT jumped by 9.40 per cent to N12.80.
A total of 37 stocks ended on the advancers’ chart and 28 stocks finished on the laggards’ log, indicating a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
Market participants transacted 1.3 billion shares worth N158.3 billion in 47,458 deals at midweek, in contrast to the 932.5 million shares valued at N49.3 billion traded in 50,059 deals in the preceding day. This implied that the number of deals declined by 5.20 per cent, while the trading volume and value increased by 39.41 per cent and 221.10 per cent, respectively.
First Holdco led the activity chart, with a turnover of 736.0 million units valued at N80.8 billion, Access Holdings exchanged 79.6 million units for N2.1 billion, GTCO transacted 34.1 million units worth N4.4 billion, Mutual Benefits sold 24.4 million units valued at N85.3 million, and Zenith Bank traded 21.5 million units for N2.6 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira further appreciated against the United States Dollar by N5.68 or 0.41 per cent to N1,369.63/$1 on Wednesday, July 22, from the preceding session’s N1,375.31/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX).
Similarly, the Nigerian currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.01 to trade at N1,833.12/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,841.13/£1, and against the Euro, it gained N4.75 to sell at N1,563.03/€1, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing price of N1,567.78/€1.
In the same vein, the Naira strengthened its rate against the US Dollar in the black market yesterday by N5 to quote at N1,400/$1 compared with the N1,405/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the GTBank FX desk, it chalked up N5 against the greenback to settle at N1,383/$1 versus N1,388/$1.
FX liquidity was boosted by inflows from foreign portfolio investors, exporters and non-bank corporates. The significant liquidity and strong investor sentiment aided the naira recovery from the recent slump.
As a result, total turnover settled at $416.420 million on Wednesday, up by 29 per cent from $322.664 million recorded the previous day.
The number of deals counted at the NAFEM window also increased to 198 from 110 on Tuesday, signalling higher demand for foreign payments matched adequate FX inflows.
With more than $52 billion in gross external reserves, analysts said the FX market is expected to remain stable in the near term.
As for the digital currency market, Bitcoin (BTC) slipped by 0.4 per cent to $65,658.75 as rising oil prices and higher Treasury yields pressured risk assets and weighed on major cryptocurrencies, which later saw some recovery.
Market sentiment was further dampened by an apparent escalation in US military strikes linked to Iran, while traders also looked at regulatory uncertainty as key US Senate Democrats criticised the latest draft of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which is designed to define and separate regulatory oversight for cryptocurrency, stablecoins, and digital commodities.
Dogecoin (DOGE) crashed by 0.1 per cent to $0.0724, and TRON (TRX) dropped 0.01 per cent to trade at $0.3287, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
However, Cardano (ADA) rose by 1.6 per cent to $0.1741, Ethereum (ETH) gained 0.2 per cent to close at $1,921.85, Binance Coin (BNB) also grew by 0.2 per cent to $569.38, Ripple (XRP) increased by 0.1 per cent to $1.13, and Solana (SOL) soared by 0.02 per cent to $77.50.
