Economy

Futures Pointing to Modestly Higher Open on Wall Street

Published

8 years ago

02/11/2017

By Investors Hub

Major U.S. index futures are pointing to a modestly higher opening on Thursday following the mixed performance seen in the previous session.

The upward momentum on Wall Street comes following the release of a report from the Labor Department showing an unexpected drop in initial jobless claims in the week ended October 28th.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed a bigger than expected increase in labor productivity in the third quarter, with output jumping by much more than hours worked.

Traders are also digesting the Bank of England’s decision to raise interest rates for the first time in over a decade.

Later in the day, trading may be impacted by President Donald Trump’s expected announcement of his nominee as the next Federal Reserve Chair.

Multiple media sources have reported that Trump intends to nominate Fed Governor Jerome Powell to replace current Fed Chair Janet Yellen.

House Republicans are also expected to unveil the draft of their tax reform legislation after postponing the release by a day due to disagreements about how to offset the cost of the nearly $6 trillion in tax cuts included in the bill.

Stocks turned mixed over the course of the trading session on Wednesday after initially moving to the upside. The major averages reached record intraday highs early in the session before giving back ground.

The major averages ended the day on opposite sides of the unchanged line. While the Nasdaq edged down 11.14 points or 0.2 percent to 6,716.53, the Dow rose 57.77 points or 0.3 percent to 23,435.01 and the S&P 500 inched up 4.10 points or 0.2 percent to 2,579.36.

The mixed close on Wall Street came following the Federal Reserve’s announcement of its latest monetary policy decision.

The Fed left interest rates unchanged as widely expected and offered support for the December rate hike that most economists are predicting.

The statement from the central bank said data received since the September meeting indicates the labor market has continued to strengthen and that economic activity has been rising at a solid rate despite hurricane-related disruptions.

The Fed said inflation for items other than food and energy remained soft but continued to predict inflation would stabilize around its 2 percent objective over the medium term.

The central bank also reiterated its expectation that economic conditions will evolve in a manner that will warrant gradual increases in the federal funds rate.

“Given the strong economy and jobs market, inflation pressures gradually building and Fed officials broadening out the reasons behind hiking – such as financial conditions, asset valuations and financial stability issues – we are still sticking to our view of a December rate hike,” said ING Senior Economist James Knightley.

He added, “This is 80% priced in by financial markets with the main risk coming from the potential for an economically damaging government shutdown in the absence of an agreement to raise the debt ceiling.”

Earlier in the day, payroll processor ADP released a report showing stronger than expected private sector job growth in the month of October.

ADP said private sector employment climbed by 235,000 jobs in October after rising by a downwardly revised 110,000 jobs in September.

Economists had expected an increase of about 200,000 jobs compared to the addition of 135,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The bigger than expected increase came after private sector employment grew at its slowest rate in nearly a year in September.

A separate report from the Institute for Supply Management showed a slowdown in the pace of growth in the manufacturing sector in October.

The ISM said its purchasing managers index fell to 58.7 in October from 60.8 in September, although a reading above 50 still indicates growth in the manufacturing sector. Economists had expected the index to edge down to 59.5.

The bigger than expected pullback by the manufacturing index came after it jumped to its highest level in over thirteen years in the previous month.

Natural gas stocks turned in a strong performance on the day, with the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index jumping by 2.2 percent. With the gain, the index ended the session at its best closing level in almost a month.

Within the natural gas sector, Devon Energy (DVN) posted a standout gain after reporting third quarter earnings that exceeded analyst estimates.

Notable strength was also visible among other energy stocks even though the price of crude oil for December delivery edged lower.

Steel stocks also showed a strong move to the upside, driving the NYSE Arca Steel Index up by 1 percent. U.S. Steel (X) led the sector higher after reporting better than expected third quarter results.

On the other hand, telecom stocks saw substantial weakness, dragging the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index down by 2.8 percent. The index ended finished the day at its lowest closing level in well over a year.

Frontier Communications (FTR) posted a steep loss after reporting a narrower than expected third quarter loss but weaker than expected revenues.

Economy

NASD Exchange Extends Bearish Run After 0.56% Drop

Published

2 days ago

03/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its stay in the south territory with a decline of 0.56 per cent on Wednesday, April 2.

This brought down the market capitalisation by N13 billion to N2.417 trillion from N2.430 trillion, and downed the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 22.57 points to 4,062.87 points from the previous session’s 4,062.87 points.

It was observed that the NASD exchange ended with three price gainers and three price losers during the trading day.

MRS Oil Plc depreciated by N19.00 to close at N171.00 per unit compared with the previous price of N190.00 per unit, NASD Plc lost N4.14 to trade at N37.36 per share compared with Wednesday’s N41.50 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gave up N2.00 to sell at N78.00 per unit versus N80.00 per unit.

On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by 19 Kobo to N93.00 per share from N92.81 per share, Food Concepts Plc expanded by 15 Kobo to N2.87 per unit from N2.72 per unit, and Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc improved by 2 Kobo to 52 Kobo per share from 50 Kobo per share.

Yesterday, the volume of securities dipped by 91.8 per cent to 260.2 million units from 3.2 billion units, the value of securities went down by 98.1 per cent to N154.2 million from N8.3 billion, while the number of deals soared by 53.3 per cent to 46 deals from 30 deals.

GNI Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 56.9 million units valued at N3.9 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.5 million units traded for N1.8 billion.

The most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was also GNI Plc with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.2 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units transacted for N1.2 billion.

Economy

Naira Slips to N1,380/$1 at Official Market, Remains N1,405/$1 at Black Market

Published

2 days ago

03/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira dropped N2.09 or 0.15 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, April 2, to trade at N1,380.79/$1 compared with Wednesday’s rate of N1,378.70/$1.

However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N2.77 to quote at N1,824.86/£1 versus the N1,836.57/£1 it was traded at midweek, and improved its value against the Euro by N10.54 to N1,591.92/€1 from N1,602.46/€1.

Yesterday was the last trading session of the week for the local currency in the spot market, as the market will be closed on Friday and Monday for the Easter Holiday.

At the black market, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the greenback yesterday at N1,405/$1, but gained N8 at the GTBank FX counter to settle at N1,388/$1, in contrast to the previous session’s N1,396/$1.

Pressure eased on the domestic currency as strong policy indicators have helped calm the majority of worries within the financial systems. Particularly in the remittance segment, the apex bank has directed all International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) to route remittance transactions through designated Naira settlement accounts in banks, a move aimed at boosting transparency and channelling more foreign exchange into the formal market.

This helps take off pressure from the foreign reserves, which have fallen below the $50 billion mark as they are gradually decreasing rather than falling sharply.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish on Thursday, as macro sentiment shifted against recent optimism after reports that Iran is drafting a protocol with Oman to manage traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, easing concerns about disruptions to a key global oil route.

The remarks came after U.S. President Trump on Wednesday night vowed to hit Iran “extremely hard” in the coming weeks and that the Strait of Hormuz would “open naturally” once the war ends.

Cardano (ADA) chalked up 1.9 per cent to trade at $0.2435, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 1.2 per cent to $0.0912, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 0.8 per cent to $2,066.37, Bitcoin (BTC) added 0.5 per cent to sell at $67,080.53, Solana (SOL) increased by 0.5 per cent to $79.91, and Ripple (XRP) jumped 0.2 per cent to $1.31.

Conversely, Binance Coin (BNB) dipped 0.7 per cent to $586.90, and TRON (TRX) depreciated by 0.3 per cent to $0.3147, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.

Economy

Bulls, Bears Share Customs Street’s Spoils Amid Bullish Investor Sentiment

Published

2 days ago

03/04/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The local stock market was relatively flat on Friday, as the bears and the bulls shared the spoils of war, though investor sentiment turned bullish compared with the preceding session’s bearish posture.

Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) was marginally down by 4.66 points as it ended at 201,698.89 points versus Wednesday’s 201,703.55 points, and the market capitalisation slightly contracted by N3 billion to N129.806 trillion from N129.809 trillion.

Customs Street was shut on Friday because of the public holidays declared by the federal government today and next Monday.

Business Post reports that John Holt declined by 9.91 per cent to N15.45, Abbey Mortgage Bank shed 9.60 per cent to trade at N8.95, International Energy Insurance slipped by 6.48 per cent to N3.32, Chams shrank by 5.30 per cent to N3.75, and Tantalizers depreciated by 5.18 per cent to N4.03.

On the flip side, Unilever Nigeria improved by 10.00 per cent to N103.40, Fortis Global Insurance gained 9.82 per cent to trade at N1.23, Multiverse appreciated 9.81 per cent to N20.15, Legend Internet advanced by 9.38 per cent to N6.30, and Zichis grew by 9.02 per cent to N14.14.

The market breadth index was positive during the trading session, as there were 35 appreciating stocks and 24 depreciating stocks.

Yesterday, investors traded 560.0 million equities valued at N19.3 billion in 49,676 deals, in contrast to the 815.5 million equities worth N33.3 billion transacted in 52,641 deals in the preceding day, representing a drop in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 31.33 per cent, 42.04 per cent, and 5.63 per cent, respectively.

Secure Electronic Technology dominated the activity log with 59.7 million shares valued at N61.1 million, Wema Bank exchanged 52.0 million equities worth N1.4 billion, VFD Group transacted 36.0 million stocks for N410.5 million, Access Holdings sold 35.3 million shares valued at N914.8 million, and Chams traded 31.0 million equities worth N115.0 million.