Economy
Futures Pointing to Initial Strength on Wall Street
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Monday, with stocks likely to regain ground following the pullback seen last week.
The upward momentum on Wall Street comes as optimism about the economic outlook has overshadowed concerns about global trade tensions.
Trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the release of key economic data in the coming days.
Stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Friday before ending the day modestly lower. With the drop on the day, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 extended the pullback seen over the past few sessions.
The major averages all ended the day in negative territory. The Dow fell 79.33 points or 0.3 percent to 25,916.54, the Nasdaq dipped 20.18 points or 0.3 percent to 7,902.54 and the S&P 500 slipped 6.37 points or 0.2 percent to 2,871.68.
For the holiday-shortened week, the Nasdaq plunged by 2.6 percent, the S&P 500 slumped by 1 percent and the Dow edged down by 0.2 percent.
The lower close on Wall Street came amid ongoing trade concerns after President Donald Trump suggested he may impose tariffs on another $267 billion worth of Chinese goods.
Trump’s remarks to reporters aboard Air Force One came as the administration is already considering imposing tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods following the expiration of a public comment period at midnight on Thursday.
“The $200 billion we are talking about could take place very soon depending on what happens,” Trump said. “To a certain extent it’s going to be up to China.”
“And I hate to say this, but behind that is another $267 billion ready to go on short notice if I want,” he added. “That changes the equation.”
China’s Commerce Ministry has warned it will be forced to roll out necessary retaliatory measures if the U.S. imposes any new tariffs.
Trading earlier in the day was impacted by reaction to a closely watched Labor Department report showing stronger than expected job growth in the month of August.
The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment surged up by 201,000 jobs in August after climbing by a downwardly revised 147,000 jobs in July.
Economists had expected employment to increase by about 191,000 jobs compared to the addition of 157,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
The report also said the annual rate of average hourly employee earnings growth accelerated to 2.9 percent in August from 2.7 percent in July.
The data paints a positive picture of the economy but also reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates later this month.
Housing stocks moved significantly lower over the course of the trading session, dragging the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index down by 1.2 percent. The index fell to its lowest closing level in nearly a month.
Interest-rate sensitive utilities and commercial real estate stocks also came under pressure, with the Dow Jones Utility Average and the Dow Jones Real Estate Index both sliding by 1.1 percent.
Telecom and biotechnology stocks also saw some weakness on the day, although most of the major sectors ended the session showing only 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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