Economy
Futures Climb Off Worst Levels But Still Point to Lower Open
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures have climbed off their worst levels of the morning but currently continue to point to a modestly lower opening on Thursday following the strength seen on Wall Street over the two previous sessions.
A negative reaction to quarterly results from Morgan Stanley (MS) may generate early selling pressure, with the financial giant down by 3.7 percent in pre-market trading.
Morgan Stanley is likely to see initial weakness after reporting fourth quarter earnings and revenues that came in below analyst estimates.
Renewed trade concerns may also weigh on Wall Street after a report from the Wall Street Journal said federal prosecutors are pursuing a criminal investigation of China?s Huawei Technologies for allegedly stealing trade secrets from U.S. partners.
However, the futures regained ground following the release of a report from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve showing a significant acceleration in the pace of growth in regional manufacturing activity in the month of January.
Stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Wednesday, adding to the gains posted on Tuesday. With the continued upward move, the major averages reached their best closing levels in a month.
The major averages ended the day in positive territory but well off their highs of the session. The Dow climbed 141.57 points or 0.6 percent to 24,207.16, the Nasdaq rose 10.86 points or 0.2 percent to 7,034.69 and the S&P 500 edged up 5.80 points or 0.2 percent to 2,616.10.
The continued strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to upbeat earnings news from financial giants Bank of America (BAC) and Goldman Sachs (GS).
Shares of Bank of America moved sharply higher trading after the company reported fourth quarter results that beat analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
Goldman Sachs also saw substantial strength after reporting fourth quarter earnings and revenues that exceeded expectations.
Buying interest was somewhat subdued, however, as traders continued to express uncertainty about the ongoing government shutdown.
Stocks remained mostly positive after British Prime Minister Theresa May’s government survived a vote of no confidence in parliament.
The U.K.’s House of Commons defeated the motion raised by the leader of the main opposition Labour party Jeremy Corbyn by a vote of 325 to 306. The no-confidence vote came a day after May’s Brexit deal was voted down 432 to 202.
The Federal Reserve also released its Beige Book this afternoon, with the report saying economic activity has continued to increase in most of the U.S. but also hinting at a deterioration in optimism.
The Beige Book, a compilation of anecdotal evidence on economic conditions in the twelve Fed districts, said eight of the twelve districts reported modest to moderate growth.
Looking ahead, the Beige Book said outlooks generally remained positive, although many districts reported that contacts had become less optimistic.
The drop in optimism reflected increased financial market volatility, rising short-term interest rates, falling energy prices, and elevated trade and political uncertainty.
In other U.S. economic news, the Labor Department released a report showing another steep drop in import prices in the month of December, reflecting a continued nosedive in fuel prices
The Labor Department said import prices tumbled by 1.0 percent in December after plunging by a revised 1.9 percent in November.
Economists had expected import prices to plummet by 1.3 percent compared to the 1.6 percent slump originally reported for the previous month.
The report said export prices also fell by 0.6 percent in December after sliding by a revised 0.8 percent in November. The drop in export prices matched economist estimates.
A separate report from the National Association of Home Builders showed an unexpected improvement in homebuilder confidence in January.
The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index rose to 58 in January after slumping to 56 in December. Economists had expected the index to come in unchanged.
The notable decrease seen in the previous month dragged the housing market index down its lowest level since hitting 54 in May of 2015.
Financial stocks turned in some of the market’s best performances on the day following the results from industry giants Bank of America and Goldman Sachs.
Reflecting the strength in the financial sector, the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index and the KBW Bank Index surged up by 2.9 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.
Notable strength was also visible among steel stocks, resulting in a 1.1 percent advance by the NYSE Arca Steel Index.
On the other hand, computer hardware stocks came under considerable selling pressure, dragging the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index down by 1.9 percent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has defended its decision to allow Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to invest in the parent companies of their custodians, insisting that adequate safeguards are in place to protect contributors’ funds.
The director-general of the pension regulator, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, speaking on Tuesday during the Meet the Press Briefing at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the commission’s decision to relax the investment restriction followed a comprehensive risk assessment that found minimal conflict of interest.
She explained that under PenCom’s investment regulations, PFAs are only permitted to invest pension assets in carefully selected instruments that meet stringent criteria, including profitability, strong credit ratings and proven track records.
According to her, the commission regularly reviews its investment regulations, conducts routine examinations and spot checks on PFAs to ensure strict compliance with established risk management guidelines.
“PFAs cannot just go into the stock market and buy any kind of stock. There are strict guidelines. Companies must demonstrate profitability, have a proven track record and satisfy other criteria before pension funds can invest,” she said.
Ms Oloworaran noted that each PFA also operates under the oversight of a board, an investment committee and a risk management committee, providing additional layers of governance to safeguard contributors’ funds.
She said PenCom recently issued a circular allowing PFAs to invest in the parent companies of their custodians after determining that the potential conflict of interest was negligible.
The PenCom boss explained that the parent companies involved are largely Tier-1 banks, including First Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Zenith Bank, which she described as A-rated institutions with strong financial foundations.
She said the policy was intended to widen investment opportunities for pension funds without compromising safety.
Using Stanbic IBTC as an example, Ms Oloworaran explained that if its custodian is Zenith Bank, the previous restriction prevented the pension administrator from investing in Zenith Bank shares despite the bank’s strong performance.
“We reviewed the risks and any potential conflict of interest and found the risks to be very low. That is why we opened that investment window,” she said.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Analysts at Meristem Research have predicted that the inflation rate for June 2026 in Nigeria should marginally rise to 15.95 per cent on a year-on-year basis from the 15.93 per cent reported in May 2026.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is expected to release inflation numbers for last month later today, Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
In its report sighted by Business Post, Meristem Research said it expects inflationary pressures to re-emerge across key economies in the near term, as the re-escalation of the US-Iran conflict has reignited upward pressure on global oil prices.
It disclosed that this marks a sharp reversal from most of June, when the ceasefire between the two countries helped drive oil prices lower, raising expectations of some relief on the inflation front.
With conflicts now flaring up again, oil prices are likely to increase again, and the anticipated easing in energy-driven inflation may not materialise as broadly as earlier envisaged.
“Nonetheless, some relief is likely from the food segment, where robust supply conditions across major producing regions and softening demand should continue to ease food price pressures,” it stated.
The team also explained that it projected a 15.95 per cent inflation rate because of the lingering effects of persistent food price pressures.
“However, we expect core inflation to moderate as the sharp reversal in energy prices begins to filter through to transportation, distribution, and other energy-related costs, easing underlying price pressures.
“On a month-on-month basis, the combined effect of lower petrol prices, a relatively stable Naira, and the gradual pass-through of reduced energy costs across the supply chain should exert further downward pressure on inflation.
“Based on our assessment, food inflation is expected to remain the key swing factor, as seasonal pre-harvest supply constraints are likely to offset some of the gains from lower logistics costs,” it said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and Afriland Properties Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.61 per cent on Tuesday, July 14.
CSCS Plc saw its stock value drop N9.08 to close at N82.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N91.48 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc slid by 17 Kobo to sell at N15.00 per unit versus N15.70 per unit.
The losses recorded by the two securities pulled back the market capitalisation by N41.64 billion to N2.546 trillion from N2.587 trillion, and cracked the NASD Security Index (NSI) by 69.36 points to 4,242.31 points from 4,311.67 points.
It was observed that the exchange witnessed two price advancers during the session, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which gained N1.37 to end at N151.37 per share compared with the previous day’s N150.00 per share, and Food Concepts Plc chalked up 5 Kobo to settle at N2.50 per unit versus N2.45 per unit.
The volume of securities traded by market participants surged by 50.7 per cent to 13.7 million units from the previous 9.1 million units, while the value of securities went down by 79.7 per cent to N65.2 million from N320.4 million, and the number of deals crashed by 3.6 per cent to 27 deals from the previous session’s 28 deals.
At the close of transactions, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with the sale of 3.4 billion units for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc, which exchanged 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units transacted for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the trading day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth 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 valued at N415.7 million.
