Economy
Futures Pointing to Mixed Open on Wall Street
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a mixed opening on Monday following the pullback seen by the major averages last week.
A steep drop by shares of Boeing (BA) is likely to weigh on the Dow, as the aerospace giant is plunging by more than 10 percent in pre-market trading.
Boeing is under pressure following the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, which is the second crash in five months involving the company?s 737 Max 8 model.
Meanwhile, the broader Nasdaq and S&P 500 may move to the upside following the release of a report from the Commerce Department showing an unexpected uptick in U.S. retail sales in January.
After an initial move to the downside, stocks staged a few recovery attempts over the course of the trading session on Friday. The major averages rallied going into the close of trading but still ended the day modestly lower.
The Dow edged down 22.99 points or 0.1 percent to 25,450.24, the Nasdaq dipped 13.32 points or 0.2 percent to 7,408.14 and the S&P 500 slipped 5.86 points or 0.2 percent to 2,743.07. With the drop, the major averages extended the pullback seen over the past few sessions.
For the week, the Dow and the S&P 500 both slumped by 2.2 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled by 2.5 percent.
The initial weakness on Wall Street came after a report from the Labor Department revealed job growth nearly ground to a halt in February after soaring in January.
The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment edged up by 20,000 jobs in February after jumping by an upwardly revised 311,000 jobs in January.
Economists had expected employment to increase by about 180,000 jobs compared to the spike of 304,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
The much weaker than expected job growth in February represented the worst month since the loss of 18,000 jobs in September of 2017, when employment was impacted by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
However, FTN Financial Chief Economist Chris Low said the stark contrast between the January and February data suggests a “seasonal adjustment breakdown rather than a change in economic performance.”
“The three month average, 186k, is respectable, and far more realistic than either the 311k rise in January or the 20k rise in February,” Low said.
The report also showed the unemployment rate dropped to 3.8 percent in February from 4.0 percent in January, while the annual rate of wage growth accelerated to 3.4 percent from 3.1 percent.
The jobs data largely overshadowed a separate report from the Commerce Department showing a substantial rebound in housing starts in January.
The report said housing starts soared by 18.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.230 million in January after plunging by 14.0 percent to a revised rate of 1.037 million in December.
Economists had expected housing starts to jump by 11 percent to a rate of 1.197 million from the 1.078 million originally reported for the previous month.
The Commerce Department said building permits also rose by 1.4 percent to an annual rate of 1.345 million in January after inching up by 0.3 percent to 1.326 million in December.
Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, had been expected to drop by 2.8 percent to a rate of 1.289 million.
Concerns about the global economy also weighed on the markets after the European Central Bank downgraded its GDP forecasts and China reported weaker than expected trade data for February.
Energy stocks saw substantial weakness on the day amid a drop by the price of crude oil amid concerns about global demand.
Reflecting the weakness in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index plunged by 3 percent, while the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index and the NYSE Arca Oil Index tumbled by 2.6 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.
Concerns about global demand also weighed on the steel sector, as reflected by the 1.7 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Steel Index.
Meanwhile, gold stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the session amid a jump by the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index spiking by 3.5 percent.
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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