Economy

Economic Data, Earnings News in Focus on Wall Street

Published

8 years ago

17/07/2017

By Investors Hub

The major US index futures are pointing to a roughly flat opening on Monday as traders may be reluctant to make any significant moves.

Traders may stick to the sidelines ahead of the release of earnings news from a number of big-name companies later this week.

Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS), UnitedHealth (UNH), IBM (IBM), American Express (AXP), Microsoft (MSFT), Visa (V), and General Electric (GE) are among the companies due to report their quarterly results this week.

Stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading session on Friday, extending the upward trend seen over the past several sessions. With the gains on the day, the Dow and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs.

The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Dow rose 84.65 points or 0.4 percent to 21,637.74, the Nasdaq advanced 38.03 points or 0.6 percent to 6,312.47 and the S&P 500 climbed 11.44 points or 0.5 percent to 2,459.27.

For the week, the Nasdaq surged up by 2.6 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 jumped by 1 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.

The strength on Wall Street came following the release of several key economic reports, with the data suggesting that the Federal Reserve will not be in any hurry to raise interest rates.

Before the start of trading, the Commerce Department released a report showing retail sales unexpectedly decreased for the second consecutive month in June.

The Commerce Department said retail sales fell by 0.2 percent in June after edging down by a revised 0.1 percent in May. The continued drop in sales surprised economists, who had expected sales to inch up by 0.1 percent.

Excluding auto sales, retail sales still dipped by 0.2 percent in June following the 0.3 decline seen in May. Ex-auto sales were expected to rise by 0.2 percent.

A separate report released by the Labor Department showed consumer prices came in unchanged in the month of June.

The Labor Department said its consumer price index was flat in June after edging down by 0.1 percent in May. Economists had expected consumer prices to inch up by 0.1 percent.

Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer prices crept up by 0.1 percent for the third consecutive month. Core prices had been expected to rise by 0.2 percent.

The report said consumer prices in June were up by 1.6 percent compared to the same month a year ago, a deceleration from the 1.9 percent year-over-year growth in May.

The annual rate of growth in core consumer prices came in at 1.7 percent in June, unchanged from the previous month.

“With its dual mandate, the Fed needs to take into account the decline in the unemployment rate this year as well as the drop back in core inflation,” said Paul Ashworth, Chief U.S. Economist at Capital Economics.

“For that reason, we still expect the Fed to continue raising interest rates in the second half of this year,” he added. “Nevertheless, the odds of a September rate hike are fading.”

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve released a report showing industrial production increased by slightly more than anticipated in the month of June.

The Fed said industrial production climbed by 0.4 percent in June after inching up by a revised 0.1 percent in May. Economists had expected production to rise by 0.3 percent.

Weakness among financial stocks limited the upside for the markets, with Wells Fargo (WFC), Citigroup (C), and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) all closing lower after reporting their second quarter results.

Electronic storage stocks showed a strong move to the upside over the course of the session, driving the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index up by 2.1 percent. The index climbed to its best closing level in over a month.

Within the storage sector, NetApp (NTAP) posted a standout gain, surging up by 5.5 percent to its best closing level in over three years.

Significant strength was also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 1.5 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The strength in the sector came amid a notable increase by the price of gold. Oil service stocks also saw considerable strength amid an increase by the price of crude oil.

Telecom, semiconductor, and tobacco stocks also saw notable strength on the day, while some weakness was visible among banking stocks.

Economy

Nigerian Stocks Close 1.13% Higher to Remain in Bulls’ Territory

Published

3 hours ago

20/12/2025

Dipo Olowookere

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.

Economy

FrieslandCampina, Two Others Erase N26bn from NASD OTC Bourse

Published

5 hours ago

20/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

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.

Economy

Naira Crashes to N1,464/$1 at Official Market, N1,485/$1 at Black Market

Published

7 hours ago

20/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

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.