Economy
Fed Announcement in Focus on Wall Street
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Wednesday as traders look ahead to the Federal Reserve?s monetary policy announcement.
Upward momentum may contribute to early strength among stocks, although trading activity is likely to be somewhat subdued ahead of the Fed?s announcement.
The Fed is scheduled to announce its monetary policy decision at 2 pm ET, followed by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell?s press conference at 2:30 pm ET.
While the Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by a quarter point, traders are likely to pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about future rate hikes.
Likely reinforcing expectations for a rate hike, the Labor Department recently released a report showing a bigger than expected increase in producer prices in the month of May.
Stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Tuesday, with the major averages bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line. Despite the choppy trading, the tech-heavy Nasdaq reached a new record closing high.
The major averages eventually ended the session mixed. While the Dow edged down 1.58 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 25,320.73, the Nasdaq climbed 43.87 points or 0.6 percent to 7,703.79 and the S&P 500 rose 4.85 points or 0.2 percent to 2,786.85.
The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to monetary policy announcements by the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.
Ahead of the Fed meeting, the Labor Department released a report showing another modest increase in consumer prices in the month of May.
The Labor Department said its consumer price index rose by 0.2 percent in May, matching the increase seen in April as well as economist estimates.
Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer prices still increased by 0.2 percent in May after inching up by 0.1 percent in April. The core price growth also matched expectations.
The annual rate of consumer price growth accelerated to 2.8 percent in May from 2.5 percent in April, reaching its highest level since February of 2012.
Core consumer price growth also edged up to a fifteen-year high of 2.2 percent in May from 2.1 percent in the previous month.
Michael Pearce, Senior U.S. Economist at Capital Economics, said the consumer price growth will keep the Federal Reserve on course to raise interest rates on Wednesday.
“We expect underlying inflation to trend gradually higher from here, which will prompt the Fed to hike rates twice in the second half of the year,” Pearce said.
Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off the historic summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Following the meeting, Trump and Kim signed a joint statement pledging to work together to “build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.”
The statement said Kim reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, while Trump committed to provide security guarantees to North Korea.
The U.S. and North Korea also committed to hold follow-on negotiations led by the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a relevant high-level North Korean official.
Most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, contributing to the lackluster close by the broader markets.
Utilities stocks saw considerable strength, however, with the Dow Jones Utilities Average climbing by 1.3 percent. The average bounced off its lowest closing level in four months.
Notable strength also emerged among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 1.1 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. With the gain, the index reached its best closing level in over four months.
On the other hand, oil stocks came under pressure on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Oil Index down by 1.3 percent. The weakness in the sector came despite a modest increase by the price of crude oil.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Analysts at Coronation Research are projecting the inflation rate for February 2026 to moderate by 0.98 per cent to 14.12 per cent from the 15.10 per cent recorded in the preceding month.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is expected to release the inflation numbers today, Monday, March 16, 2026.
In a note released over the weekend, Coronation Research disclosed that the fall in the average prices of goods and services for last month would be impacted by a decline in the prices of food items.
“Our projection is supported by favourable base effects, easing food price pressures, and slight appreciation of the Naira,” a part of the report sighted by Business Post read.
The organisation revealed that the ongoing government interventions in the agricultural sector to improve food supply conditions are beginning to ease pressures within the food component of the consumer basket.
It further stated that “appreciation of the Naira to N1,363.40/1$ from N1,386.55/1$ in January is expected to reduce the cost of imported food items.”
However, it stressed that the ongoing US/Israel-Iran war was capable of reversing the deflationary trends because of the rising global energy prices.
“Also, the $200 million financing approved by the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group to scale up priority agricultural investments is expected to be disbursed in March, but its impact is likely to materialise in the medium to long term, with limited immediate effects on food supply and prices,” it said.
Coronation Research also disclosed that the recent energy market developments could keep core inflation sticky in the near term, as average Bonny Light crude oil prices rose to $72.33 per barrel in February 2026 from $68.04 per barrel in January.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on President Bola Tinubu to order an investigation into the alleged N5.9 billion rebranding cost of the old Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation into the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
In a Sunday statement, SERAP urged Mr Tinubu to direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Lateef Fagbemi, alongside anti-corruption agencies, to look into the matter.
The group further urged the President to direct the panel to identify and invite officials who authorised the payment and contractors who handled the project for questioning.
“We’ve urged President Bola Tinubu to urgently direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, and appropriate anti-corruption agencies to promptly investigate the alleged expenditure of about ₦5.9 billion reportedly spent on the rebranding of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
“We also urged him to direct the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to identify the officials who approved and paid the amount, and the contractor(s) who collected the money, and to invite them for questioning,” the organisation stated.
SERAP further alleged that the NNPC reportedly paid N2.9 billion for incorporation expenses from petroleum product proceeds, while the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) also charged N2.9 billion against crude oil revenue for the same purpose.
The group argued that the total cost was valued at about N5.9 billion, which was spent by the NNPCL for the rebranding.
“There ought to be full transparency and accountability regarding the reported ₦5.9 billion spent on rebranding NNPC to NNPCL.”
SERAP emphasised that Nigerians have the right to know who approved the expenditure, who received the money, and whether due process was followed.
“Any investigation into the rebranding project should determine whether the N5.9 billion represents value for money, lawful spending of public funds, and compliance with transparency and accountability requirements,” the statement concluded.
Business Post reports that NNPC became a limited liability company on July 1, 2022, under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) in line with the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which was signed into law on August 16, 2021, by late President Muhammadu Buhari.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its stay in the south for the fourth consecutive session after it shed 1.18 per cent on Friday, March 13.
The unlisted securities market recorded a loss despite closing without a price decliner, and ending with two price gainers led by Geo Fluids Plc, which gained 1o Kobo to sell at N3.10 per share compared with the previous day’s N3.00 per share. Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc appreciated during the session by 2 Kobo to trade at 54 Kobo per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of 52 Kobo per unit.
When the market closed for the day, the market capitalisation lost N29.83 billion to close at N2.489 trillion compared with the N2.519 trillion it finished a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) crashed by 49.84 points to 4,160.46 points from 4,210.31 points.
Market activity improved yesterday, as the volume of transactions rose 179.5 per cent to 10.4 million units from 3.7 million units, but the value of trades declined by 68.4 per cent to N29.9 million from N95.0 million, while the number of deals weakened by 11.5 per cent to 46 deals from 52 deals.
Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 38.4 million units worth N2.4 billion, Okitipupa Plc followed with 6.4 million units traded at N1.1 billion, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc transacted 6.3 million units for N584.3 million.
Resourcery Plc ended the trading session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.6 million, trailed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 130.8 million units valued at N504.5 million, and CSCS Plc with 38.4 million units worth N2.4 billion.
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