Economy
Economic Data, Earnings News In Focus On Wall Street
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a mixed opening on Friday following the strong upward move seen in the previous session.
Early trading is likely to be impacted by reaction to closely watched reports on retail sales and consumer prices as well as earnings news from financial giants JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC).
Stocks moved notably higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday, more than offsetting the modest pullback seen on Wednesday. With the upward move, the major averages climbed to new record closing highs.
The major averages saw further upside going into the close, ending the session at their best levels of the day. The Dow jumped 205.60 points or 0.8 percent to 25,574.73, the Nasdaq advanced 58.21 points or 0.8 percent to 7,211.78 and the S&P 500 climbed 19.33 points or 0.7 percent to 2,767.56.
The rebound on Wall Street was partly due to 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.”
Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a report from the Labor Department showing another unexpected increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits.
The report said initial jobless claims rose to 261,000 in the week ended January 6th, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 250,000.
The modest increase came as a surprise to economists, who had expected initial jobless claims to edge down to 245,000.
A separate report from the Labor Department unexpectedly showed a modest decrease in producer prices in the month of December.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand edged down by 0.1 percent in December after climbing by 0.4 percent in November. Economists had expected prices to rise by 0.2 percent.
Excluding food and energy prices, core producer prices still dipped by 0.1 percent in December following a 0.3 percent increase in November. Core prices had also been expected to tick up by 0.2 percent.
Airline stocks showed a particularly strong move to the upside on the day, adding to the gains posted in the previous session. The NYSE Arca Airline Index surged up by 3.9 percent to its best closing level in nearly six months.
Within the airline sector, Delta Air Lines (DAL) posted a notable gain after beating fourth quarter expectations and raising its 2018 earnings guidance.
Significant strength was also visible among energy stocks, which benefited from a continued increase by the price of crude oil.
Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index and the Natural Gas Index jumped by 2.4 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively, and the NYSE Arca Oil & Gas Index advanced by 1.9 percent.
Steel, trucking, housing and computer hardware stocks also saw considerable strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Manufacturers are yet to benefit from relief on the burden of multiple taxes and levies despite the enactment of the Nigeria Tax Act 2025, according to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN).
The association, in its Manufacturers CEO Confidence Index (MCCI) report for the second quarter of 2026, said manufacturers continued to face multiple tax collectors and regulatory agencies during the period.
Director-General of MAN, Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said the new tax law, which was expected to reduce the burden of multiple taxation, had yet to deliver the intended benefits.
“Manufacturers complained that they were still met with multiple tax collectors and regulators in Q2 2026. It follows that the implementation of the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 is yet to achieve its objective of relieving manufacturers of the burden of taxes and levies,” he said.
According to the report, Nigeria’s business environment remains largely unsupportive of manufacturing growth, with local sourcing of raw materials emerging as the only indicator that recorded noticeable improvement.
MAN, however, warned that the gains in local sourcing could be undermined by worsening insecurity in parts of the country.
The association attributed the improvement largely to persistent foreign exchange constraints, which have forced many manufacturers to source inputs locally.
Despite this, it said excessive regulation and multiple taxation continue to weigh heavily on manufacturers.
The report showed that manufacturers recorded a modest increase in sales volume during the second quarter, but rising production, distribution and logistics costs continued to erode profitability.
It added that capacity utilisation, production levels, investment and employment remained broadly unchanged during the review period.
MAN further observed that although recent foreign exchange reforms had helped stabilise the naira, inadequate foreign currency supply remained a major constraint to manufacturing operations.
Other key challenges identified in the report include poor infrastructure, high production costs, raw material shortages and unfavourable trade policies.
The association said the findings underscore the continued pressure on manufacturers despite recent fiscal and foreign exchange reforms, stressing the need for more effective implementation of policies aimed at improving the operating environment for the real sector.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government spent N3.14 trillion on servicing its domestic debt in the first quarter (Q1) of 2026, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO).
The figure, contained in the DMO’s latest domestic debt service report for Q1 2026, comprised N2.97 trillion in interest payments and N169.68 billion in principal repayments.
According to the report, the government spent N741.82 billion on domestic debt service in January before the figure rose to N967.67 billion in February.
Debt service increased further to N1.43 trillion in March, bringing total spending for the quarter to N3.14 trillion.
The March figure represented a 47.7 per cent increase from the N967.67 billion recorded in February and was 92.7 per cent higher than the N741.82 billion spent in January.
The debt office said interest payments accounted for approximately 94.6 per cent of the total domestic debt service during the quarter.
Treasury bills accounted for the largest share of interest payments at N1 trillion, while interest payments on Federal Government bonds stood at N1.96 trillion.
The government also paid N4.24 billion in interest on FGN savings bonds during the period.
The debt management body said the principal component of the debt service comprised N169.68 billion in repayments on local-denominated promissory notes.
Overall, domestic debt service rose significantly throughout the quarter, with March alone accounting for nearly half of the N3.14 trillion spent between January and March.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Emomotimi Agama, has outlined how the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) can leverage Nigeria’s capital market to raise long-term funds for critical infrastructure projects instead of relying solely on annual budgetary allocations.
According to Mr Agama, the capital market offers the FCT a sustainable financing model for roads, rail, housing, water, transport and other infrastructure through instruments such as infrastructure bonds, green bonds, real estate investment trusts (REITs), asset recycling and tokenised municipal securities.
Speaking at the Abuja Business and Investment Summit and Expo (ABIE 2026) in Abuja, the SEC chief noted that Abuja’s development demonstrates that economic growth is driven by investment, stressing that “cities are not built by budgets alone. Cities are built by capital markets.”
He advised the FCT to establish a long-term infrastructure bond programme backed by dedicated revenue sources such as ground rents, tenement rates, tolls, parking fees and land-use charges, noting that this would enable the territory to finance major projects without overburdening annual budgets.
“A budget can only spend what a single year has collected. A bond can spend what 30 years will collect,” Mr Agama said, explaining that infrastructure projects generate long-term economic value that can be used to service debt over time.
The SEC boss said the territory could also access cheaper financing through green and sustainability-linked bonds for projects including mass transit, light rail, solar-powered street lighting, waste-to-energy facilities and water infrastructure.
He further proposed the creation of an FCT Real Estate Investment Trust to unlock value from Abuja’s extensive property portfolio while giving ordinary Nigerians an opportunity to invest in the city’s real estate market.
Mr Agama also urged Abuja Investments Company Limited (AICL) to consider listing some of its businesses or establishing a listed infrastructure fund, saying this would raise capital without increasing government debt while improving corporate governance and transparency.
On the long-abandoned Millennium Tower project, he said the estimated over N400 billion completion cost should not be viewed as a budgetary burden but as an investment opportunity that could be financed through a special purpose vehicle and offered to investors via the capital market.
“The question is not whether Nigeria can afford the Millennium Tower. The question is whether we will let ordinary Nigerians own it,” he said.
Mr Agama further proposed an asset recycling programme under which completed income-generating public assets, including terminals, markets, commercial properties and the International Conference Centre, could be securitised or concessioned to institutional investors, with proceeds reinvested in new infrastructure.
He also called on the FCT to pioneer a regulated tokenised municipal bond programme that would allow citizens to invest as little as N10,000 through mobile phones in specific infrastructure projects.
According to him, the recently enacted Investments and Securities Act (ISA) 2025 has strengthened the legal framework for sub-national governments to access the capital market while providing enhanced investor protection and clearer regulation of digital assets.
Mr Agama disclosed that Nigeria’s capital market has grown significantly, with total market capitalisation exceeding N217 trillion as of May 2026, comprising about N160.5 trillion in equities and N56.7 trillion in bonds.
He said recent reforms, including the migration to a T+1 settlement cycle and regulatory measures to deepen market participation, have improved market efficiency and strengthened investor confidence.
The SEC DG assured the FCTA of the commission’s readiness to provide technical support for structuring and registering capital market instruments, saying the agency would work closely with the territory to unlock financing for infrastructure projects.
He added that Nigeria’s capital market remains critical to mobilising domestic savings for national development, insisting that “money is not scarce; delivery capacity is scarce, and financing follows delivery capacity.”
