Economy
Economic Data, Earnings News in Focus on Wall Street
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.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value 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 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as 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 traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
