Economy
Futures Pointing To Roughly Flat Open On Wall Street
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The major US index futures are pointing to a roughly flat opening on Monday, as traders may be reluctant to make any significant moves.
Ahead of the Good Friday holiday, traders may stick to the sidelines early on amid a relatively quiet day on the U.S. economic front.
With traders digesting mixed jobs data as well as developments overseas, stocks showed a lack of throughout much of the trading session on Friday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.
The major averages eventually ended the session slightly lower. The Dow edged down 6.85 points or less than 0.1 percent to 20,656.10, the Nasdaq slipped 1.14 points or less than 0.1 percent to 5,877.81 and the S&P 500 fell 1.95 points or 0.1 percent to 2,355.54.
For the week, the Dow closed nearly flat, while the Nasdaq slid by 0.6 percent and the S&P 500 dipped by 0.3 percent.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came following the release of a report from the Labor Department showing much weaker than expected job growth in March but also an unexpected drop in the unemployment rate.
The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment climbed by 98,000 jobs in March after surging up by a revised 219,000 jobs in February. Economists had expected an increase of about 180,000 jobs.
Despite the weaker than expected job growth, the unemployment rate fell to 4.5 percent in March from 4.7 percent in February. The unemployment rate had been expected to come in unchanged.
With the unexpected decrease, the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since hitting 4.4 percent in May of 2007.
ING Senior Economist James Knightley noted employment has risen by 920,000 in the past two months using the household survey.
“So there is a real contradiction with the employment survey, which will only add to the confusion on how to interpret the report,” Knightley said.
Traders were also keeping an eye on developments overseas after the U.S. launched a missile strike on a Syrian airbase overnight.
Reports said U.S. warships in the Mediterranean Sea launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles targeting the al-Shayrat airbase in central Syria.
President Donald Trump claimed a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held Syrian town earlier this week was launched from the airbase that was struck.
Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping was also in focus, although the summit was largely overshadowed by the attack on Syria.
Most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, contributing to the lacklustre close by the broader markets.
Oil service stocks saw considerable weakness, however, with the Philadelphia Oil Service Index sliding by 1.2 percent. The index pulled back after ending the previous session at its best closing level in a month. The weakness among oil service stocks came despite an increase by the price of crude oil.
Natural gas and trucking stocks also saw some weakness on the day, while strength was visible among biotechnology stocks.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude oil went down on Tuesday after a projection showed steady demand in the world’s largest oil producer, the United States, for 2025, Brent futures declining by $1.09 or 1.35 per cent to settle at $79.92 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude losing $1.32 or 1.67 per cent to finish at $77.50 a barrel.
On Tuesday, the US Energy Information Administration said the country’s oil demand would remain steady at 20.5 million barrels per day in 2025 and 2026, with domestic oil output rising to 13.55 million barrels per day, an increase from the agency’s previous forecast of 13.52 million barrels per day for this year.
Also, the oil market shrank a few days after prices gained following new US sanctions on Russian oil exports to India and China.
On Monday, prices jumped 2 per cent after the US Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions on Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas as well as 183 vessels that transport oil as part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of tankers.
Analysts say this move could have a significant price impact on Russian oil supplies from the fresh sanctions, however, their effect on the physical market could be less pronounced than what the affected volumes might suggest.
ING analysts estimated the new sanctions had the potential to erase the entire 700,000 barrels per day surplus they had forecast for this year, but said the real impact could be lower.
Uncertainty about demand from China, the world’s largest oil importer, could impact tighter supply this year.
China’s crude oil imports fell in 2024 for the first time in two decades outside of the COVID-19 pandemic, official data showed on Monday.
Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the US fell by 2.6 million barrels for the week ending January 10.
For the week prior, the API reported a draw of 4.022 million barrels in US crude oil inventories amid build season, while product inventories saw a hefty build.
In 2024, crude oil inventories dropped by more than 12 million barrels, according to the API’s inventory data. In the first few weeks of 2025, crude inventories have shed more than 6.6 million barrels.
Official data from the US EIA will be due later on Wednesday, confirming the actual level of stockpiles.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited came under heavy selling pressure on Tuesday, going down by 1.66 per cent as investors embarked on profit-taking after most stocks on the trading platform gained in the past few trading sessions.
It was observed that the industrial goods sector was the most affected yesterday as it went down by 4.99 per cent due to the decline suffered by Dangote Cement and others.
The insurance continued its downward trend during the day as it lost 2.80 per cent, the consumer goods counter fell by 0.27 per cent, and the banking index shed 0.10 per cent, while the energy sector appreciated by 0.29 per cent.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) deflated by 1,745.16 points to settle at 103,622.09 points compared with the previous trading day’s 105,367.25 points and the market capitalisation moderated by N1.1 trillion to finish at N63.188 trillion versus Monday’s N64.252 trillion.
Business Post reports that investor sentiment remained weak on Tuesday after the bourse ended with 41 depreciating equities and 23 appreciating equities, representing a negative market breadth index.
Honeywell Flour lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N9.54, Dangote Cement declined by 9.98 per cent to N431.00, Julius Berger crashed by 9.98 per cent to N139.80, Sovereign Trust Insurance decreased by 9.68 per cent to N1.12, and Prestige Assurance tumbled by 9.30 per cent to N1.17.
On the flip side, Northern Nigerian Flour Mills appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N45.10, Livestock Feeds grew by 9.91 per cent to N6.10, Academy Press expanded by 9.90 per cent to N3.22, University Press increased by 9.82 per cent to N4.81, and Neimeth gained 9.76 per cent to quote at N3.15.
During the session, market participants bought and sold 503.3 million shares valued at N12.6 billion in 12,900 deals compared with the 505.8 million shares worth N8.1 billion traded in 14,259 deals a day earlier, indicating a rise in the trading value by 55.56 per cent and a drop in the trading volume and number of deals by 0.49 per cent and 9.53 per cent, respectively.
The most active stock for the session was GTCO with 54.4 million units worth N3.2 billion, Nigerian Breweries transacted 32.2 million units for N1.0 billion, Universal Insurance traded 30.8 million units valued at N22.6 million, AIICO Insurance exchanged 26.6 million units worth N47.2 million, and Chams transacted 20.0 million units valued at N40.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government is offering two new savings bonds with interest rates between 17 and 18 per cent through the Debt Management Office (DMO).
In a statement by the agency, the country said retail investors can purchase the two-year bond maturing in January 2027 at 17.23 per cent interest, while the three-year paper maturing in January 2028 at a coupon rate of 18.23 per cent.
Bonds are very safe financial instrument that serve as investments because they are backed by the federal government, which promises to pay back the money.
According to the DMO, people can buy these bonds starting January 13, 2025, until January 17, 2025, with allotment expected on January 22, 2025, and the interest to be paid to investors every three months – in April, July, October, and January.
These bonds have some special features. They are tax-free under both company and personal tax laws.
Big investors like pension funds and trustees are allowed to buy them and each bond costs N1,000 each.
However, interested investor can only buy at least N5,000 worth, and can’t buy more than N50 million.
This comes after the Ms Patience Oniha-led debt office said the Nigerian government was offering three bonds worth N150 billion in September 2024.
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