Economy

Geopolitical Uncertainty May Lead to Choppy Trading

Published

8 years ago

16/05/2018

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a roughly flat opening on Wednesday following the sharp pullback seen in the previous session.

Geopolitical uncertainty may keep some traders on the sidelines after North Korea threatened to cancel an historic meeting between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump.

In a statement published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, North Korean First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Kim Kye Gwan suggested that Trump must accept the reclusive communist country as a nuclear power.

?If the U.S. is trying to drive us into a corner to force our unilateral nuclear abandonment, we will no longer be interested in such dialogue and cannot but reconsider our proceeding to the DPRK-U.S. summit,? Kim said.

Kim pointed to ?unbridled remarks? by U.S. officials such as National Security Adviser John Bolton calling on North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons first and be compensated afterward.

The statement from Kim comes after North Korea canceled high-level talks with South Korea planned for Wednesday over U.S.-South Korean military drills.

Despite the threats, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told Fox News that Trump remains ?ready to meet? with the North Korean leader.

After ending Monday?s trading modestly higher, stocks showed a significant move back to the downside during trading on Tuesday. The major averages pulled back sharply in morning trading and remained firmly negative throughout the afternoon.

The major averages regained some ground going into the close but still ended the day notably lower. Dow slumped 193.00 points or 0.8 percent to 24,706.41, the Nasdaq fell 59.69 points or 0.8 percent to 7,351.63 and the S&P 500 slid 18.68 points or 0.7 percent to 2,711.45.

Profit taking may have contributed to the weakness on Wall Street following a recent upward trend. The modest gains posted on Monday lifted the major averages to their best closing levels in two months.

Negative sentiment was also generated in reaction to react to earnings news from home improvement retailer Home Depot (HD).

Shares of Home Depot moved notably lower after the company reported first quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates but weaker than expected sales.

Traders were also reacting to a jump in U.S. treasury yields, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note surging up to its highest levels since 2011.

The increase in treasury yields came after a report from the Commerce Department showed retail sales increased in line with economist estimates in the month of April.

The Commerce Department said retail sales rose by 0.3 percent in April after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.8 percent in March.

Economists had expected sales to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.6 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Excluding a modest increase in auto sales, retail sales still rose by 0.3 percent in April following an upwardly revised 0.4 percent increase in March.

Ex-auto sales have been expected to climb by 0.5 percent compared to the 0.2 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.

A separate report from the National Association of Home Builders showed an unexpected improvement in homebuilder confidence in the month of May.

The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index rose to 70 in May from a downwardly revised 68 in April. Economists had expected the index to come in unchanged compared to the 69 originally reported for the previous month.

Housing stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading session, as concerns about the impact of higher interest rates overshadowed the upbeat homebuilder confidence data.

Reflecting the weakness in the housing sector, the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index plunged by 2.6 percent on the day.

Substantial weakness was also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 2.2 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. With the drop, the index fell to its lowest closing level in a month.

The weakness in the gold sector came amid a sharp decline by the price of the precious metal, with gold for June delivery plummeting $27.90 to $1,290.30 an ounce.

Real estate, healthcare, telecom, and semiconductor stocks also moved significantly lower, reflecting broad based weakness on Wall Street.

Economy

FrieslandCampina Wamco, Three Others Raise NASD OTC Exchange by 1.41%

Published

21 hours ago

16/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed higher by 1.41 per cent on Friday, May 15, supported by four securities on the platform.

During the session, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc added N14.24 to its share price to sell for N159.00 per unit, in contrast to the previous day’s N144.76 per unit.

Further, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc appreciated by N1.34 to N72.34 per share from N71.00 per share, Geo-Fluids Plc improved its price by 4 Kobo to N2.94 per unit from N2.90 per unit, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc gained 1 Kobo to trade at 61 Kobo per share compared with Thursday’s closing price of 60 Kobo per share.

As a result, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rose by 58.20 points to 4,188.41 points from 4,130.21 points, and the market capitalisation soared by N34.82 billion to N2.506 trillion from N2.471 trillion on Thursday.

During the session, the volume of trades went up by 180.8 per cent to 1.2 million units from 417,349 units, and the value of transactions increased by 29.8 per cent to N29.8 million from N23.2 million, while the number of deals fell by 22.6 per cent to 24 deals from 31 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 60.8 million units exchanged for N4.1 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.9 million units valued at N1.9 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 worth N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.

Economy

Profit-taking Sinks Nigeria’s Equity Market by 0.76% as Bears Take Control

Published

22 hours ago

16/05/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The bears overpowered the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday, sinking it further by 0.76 per cent when the closing gong was struck by 4 pm.

The nation’s flagship equity market was under selling pressure during the session, as investors booked profits after the shares witnessed price appreciation in the past trading sessions.

The energy sector was the most impacted, as it shed 4.43 per cent. The consumer goods index declined by 0.90 per cent, the banking counter decreased by 0.15 per cent, and the industrial goods sector lost 0.08 per cent, while the insurance counter gained 2.42 per cent, which was not enough to salvage the situation.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 1,912.19 points to 250,330.92 points from 252,243.11 points, and the market capitalisation moderated by 1.225 trillion to N160.444 trillion from N161.669 trillion.

Zichis was the worst-performing stock for the session after it gave up 9.97 per cent to close at N29.43, FTN Cocoa slipped by 9.95 per cent to N8.96, The Initiates slumped by 9.90 per cent to N32.30, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank tumbled by 9.88 per cent to N3.83, and International Energy Insurance dropped 9.71 per cent to trade at N2.79.

The best-performing stock was ABC Transport, which grew by 10.00 per cent to N6.27. May and Baker also appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N47.30, SCOA Nigeria surged by 9.98 per cent to N33.05, Trans-Nationwide Express expanded by 9.97 per cent to N7.06, and DAAR Communications jumped 9.76 per cent to N2.25.

Yesterday, investors traded 1.1 billion shares worth N44.3 billion in 65,744 deals compared with the 1.0 billion shares valued at N41.6 billion transacted in 74,822 deals a day earlier. This indicated a dip in the number of deals by 12.13 per cent, and a rise in the trading volume and value by 10.00 per cent and 6.49 per cent, respectively.

Chams was the busiest equity for the day, with 328.5 million units sold for N1.1 billion. UBA traded 61.6 million units worth N2.7 billion, First Holdco transacted 58.7 million units valued at N4.2 billion, Secure Electronic Technology exchanged 51.9 million units worth N45.0 million, and Access Holdings traded 51.8 million units valued at N1.3 billion.

Economy

Naira Weakens to N1,371/$1 at Official Market

Published

22 hours ago

16/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The last trading session of the week at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) ended on a negative note for the Naira on Friday, May 15, as it lost N15 Kobo or 0.1 per cent against the Dollar to trade at N1,371.04/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,370.89/$1.

However, it further appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment yesterday by N20.77 to close at N1,830.61/£1 versus Thursday’s value of N1,851.38/£1, and gained N7.91 against the Euro to settle at N1,595.07/€1 versus N1,602.98/€1.

At the GTBank FX desk, the Naira lost N2 against the US Dollar during the session to sell at N1,383/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,381/$1, and at the black market, it remained unchanged at N1,385/$1.

The Naira is forecast to be broadly stable, supported by Dollar sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) amid steady, higher oil receipts, with the ‌market settling ⁠into a balance.

Policy direction is also expected to give the market some boost as the CBN said the new edition of the FX market guidelines will deepen liquidity, improve transparency and strengthen confidence in the country’s foreign exchange market.

According to the Governor of the CBN, Mr Yemi Cardoso, the update is due to changing global economic realities, domestic reforms and the need for a more coherent and forward-looking regulatory framework. According to him, the last edition of the FX manual was issued in 2018, making the latest review both timely and necessary.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market plunged into the red zone as rising bond yields hit risk assets across markets, while traders are increasingly betting the Federal Reserve may need to raise rates again. Rising energy prices and resurging inflation could force central banks back into tightening mode.

Cardano (ADA) shrank by 4.4 per cent to $0.2557, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 3.7 per cent to $0.1104, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 3.5 per cent to $1.41, Solana (SOL) crashed by 3.5 per cent to $87.81, and Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 3.4 per cent to $659.64.

Further, Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 2.6 per cent to $78,547.49, Ethereum (ETH) lost 2.1 per cent to quote at $2,209.19, and TRON (TRX) tumbled by 0.7 per cent to $0.3509, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.