Economy
Futures Pointing to Initial Strength on Wall Street
By Investors Hub
The major US index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Monday following the mixed performance seen last Friday.
Trading activity may be somewhat subdued as the markets are scheduled to close at 1 pm ET ahead of the July 4th holiday.
After seeing modest strength for much of the session, the major averages gave back ground going into the close of trading on Friday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq pulled back into negative territory, while the Dow and the S&P 500 remained positive.
While the Nasdaq edged down 3.93 points or 0.1 percent to 6,140.42, the Dow rose 62.60 points or 0.3 percent to 21,349.63 and the S&P 500 crept up 3.71 points or 0.2 percent to 2,423.41.
For the week, the Nasdaq tumbled by 2 percent, the S&P 500 fell by 0.6 percent and the Dow dipped by 0.2 percent.
The mixed close on Wall Street came after the major averages showed wild swings back and forth over the past few sessions.
The Dow benefited from a sharp increase by shares of Nike (NKE), with the athletic apparel and footwear maker surging up by 11 percent.
The jump by Nike came after the company reported fiscal fourth quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing that personal income rose by slightly more than anticipated in the month of May, while personal spending inched up in line with estimates.
The Commerce Department said personal income climbed by 0.4 percent in May after rising by a downwardly revised 0.3 percent in April. Economists had expected income to rise by 0.3 percent.
Meanwhile, the report said personal spending inched up by 0.1 percent in May after climbing by 0.4 percent in April. The uptick in spending matched economist estimates.
A separate report from MNI Indicators showed an unexpected acceleration in the pace of growth in Chicago-area business activity in the month of June.
MNI Indicators said its Chicago business barometer jumped to 65.7 in June from 59.4 in May, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in activity. The barometer climbed to its highest level in over three years.
The notable increase came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the business barometer to edge down to 58.0.
The University of Michigan also released a report showing that consumer sentiment decreased by less than initially estimated in June.
The report said the consumer sentiment index for June was upwardly revised to 95.1 from the preliminary reading of 94.5. Economists had expected the index to be unrevised.
Despite the upward revision, the consumer sentiment index for June was still down from the final May reading of 97.1.
Railroad stocks moved significantly higher over the course of the trading session, driving the Dow Jones Railroads Index up by 1.3 percent.
Kansas City Southern (KSU) and Norfolk Southern (NSC) turned in two of the railroad sector’s best performances on the day.
Considerable strength was also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. The index climbed to a two-month closing high.
Housing, trucking, and chemical stocks also saw strength on the day, while notable weakness was visible among electronic storage 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.
