Economy
Futures Pointing to Initial Strength on Wall Street

By Investors Hub
Major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Monday following the lackluster performances seen to close out the previous week.
After closing mixed for two consecutive sessions, stocks turned in another relatively lackluster performance during trading on Friday. The major averages eventually closed on opposite sides of the unchanged line for the third straight day.
While the Dow slipped 2.53 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 21,394.76, the Nasdaq climbed 28.56 points or 0.5 percent to 6,265.25 and the S&P 500 rose 3.80 points or 0.2 percent to 2,438.30.
For the week, the Nasdaq surged up by 1.8 percent, while the Dow crept up by 0.1 percent and the S&P 500 edged up by 0.2 percent.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders remained reluctant to make significant moves amid uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets.
Traders largely shrugged off a report from the Commerce Department showing a rebound in new home sales in the month of May.
The Commerce Department said new home sales climbed by 2.9 percent to an annual rate of 610,000 in May from the upwardly revised April rate of 593,000.
Economists had expected new home sales to jump by 5.4 percent to a rate of 600,000 from the 569,000 originally reported for the previous month.
Traders also continued to digest the details of the Senate Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare that was unveiled on Thursday.
Nevada Senator Dean Heller, R-Nev., has joined four other Republican Senators in saying he cannot support the plan in its current form.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., has little margin for error with the bill, as he can only afford to lose the support of two Republicans and still pass the legislation.
Natural gas stocks showed a strong move to the upside on the day, resulting in a 2.1 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index. The index continued to recover after hitting its lowest closing level in over a year on Wednesday.
QEP Resources (QEP), Southwestern Energy (SWN) and Cabot Oil & Gas (COG) turned in some of the sector’s best performances amid an increase by the price of natural gas.
Significant strength was also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 1.7 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The strength in the sector came amid an increase by the price of the precious metal.
Steel stocks also saw notable strength, with U.S. Steel (X) and AK Steel (AKS) leading the way higher after Deutsche Bank upgraded its ratings on both stocks to Buy from Hold.
Internet, networking, and software stocks also moved to the upside on the day, while most of the other major sectors showed more modest moves.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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