Economy
Lingering Trade Worries to Stretch Wall Street Volatility
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Wednesday following the notable advance seen over the course of the previous session.
Stocks are likely to move back to the downside as traders continue to worry the trade dispute between the U.S. and China is escalating into a full-fledged trade war.
A report from the South China Morning Post said Chinas is re-examining the entire bilateral economic relationship between the U.S. and China.
The SCMP said Chinese government advisers are highlighting the risk of sourcing critical supplies from an increasingly hostile U.S. following the Trump administration?s recent move to blacklist Chinese tech giant Huawei.
Mei Xinyu, a fellow at the research institute under China?s Ministry of Commerce, told the SCMP that Beijing should prepare for the worst-case scenario to defend its rights in climbing up the global value chain through technological catch-up.
?Even if a deal is reached, it could be torn apart [by President Donald Trump] easily at any time,? Mei said, comparing the current trade talk deadlock to the Panmunjom peace talks during the Korean War.
Potentially adding to the trade concerns, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin recently told CNBC?s Ylan Mui the U.S. has no plans to go to Beijing to resume trade negotiations.
Later in the session, trading may be impacted by reaction to the release of the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting.
The minutes may shed additional light on the outlook for interest rates but could also be viewed as old news considering the constantly shifting developments on the trade front.
With the markets continuing to show intense sensitivity to trade-related news, stocks showed a strong move back to the upside during the trading day on Tuesday after moving mostly lower over the course of Monday?s session.
The major averages ended the day firmly in positive territory. The Dow climbed 197.43 points or 0.8 percent to 25,877.33, the Nasdaq jumped 83.35 points or 1.1 percent to 7,785.72 and the S&P 500 advanced 24.13 points or 0.9 percent to 2,864.36.
The rebound on Wall Street came in reaction to news that the U.S. Commerce Department has temporarily eased trade restrictions on Chinese tech giant Huawei.
The Commerce Department issued a temporary license authorizing specific, limited engagement in transactions involving the export, re-export, and transfer of items to Huawei for 90 days.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the temporary reprieve grants “operators time to make other arrangements and the Department space to determine the appropriate long term measures for Americans and foreign telecommunications providers that currently rely on Huawei equipment for critical services.”
“In short, this license will allow operations to continue for existing Huawei mobile phone users and rural broadband networks,” he added.
The move by the Trump administration led U.S. tech giant Google to reverse an earlier decision and announce it will continue to work with Huawei over the next 90 days.
Tech stocks rebounded on the news after falling sharply in the previous session amid reports of companies cutting off supplies to Huawei.
Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a report from the National Association of Realtors showing an unexpected drop in existing home sales in the month of April.
NAR said existing home sales dipped by 0.4 percent to an annual rate of 5.19 million in April after plunging by 4.9 percent to a rate of 5.21 million in March.
The continued decrease came as a surprise to economists, who had expected existing home sales to jump by 2.7 percent to a rate of 5.35 million.
Semiconductor stocks turned in some of the market’s best performances on the day after falling sharply in the previous session.
Reflecting the rebound by the sector, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index spiked by 2.1 percent after plunging by 4 percent on Monday.
Substantial strength also emerged among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 2.2 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index.
Natural gas, steel, computer hardware and oil service stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Market bellwethers, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, lifted the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 2.08 per cent on Monday, August 3.
CSCS Plc, the Nigerian securities depository company, gained N10.00 to close at N112.00 per share compared with the previous session’s N102.00 per share, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc advanced by N4.71 to quote at N152.64 per unit versus last Friday’s N147.93 per unit.
As a result, the NASD Security Index (NSI) added 92.14 points to finish at 4,523.85 points compared with the preceding session’s 4,431.71 points, and the market capitalisation appreciated by N55.31 billion to N2.715 trillion from N2.659 trillion.
Business Post reports that the price of MRS Oil Plc crashed during the trading day by N12.00 to N120.00 per share from N132.00 per share, and UBN Property Plc dipped by 3 Kobo to N1.90 per unit from N1.93 per unit.
Trading data showed that the volume of securities exchanged rose by 113.1 per cent to 1.5 million units from 690,990 units, and the number of deals climbed by 19.2 per cent to 31 deals from 26 deals, while the value of securities slid by 13.1 per cent to N65.2 million from N75.0 million.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 76.8 million units traded for N5.5 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 Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has introduced a 1.5 per cent stamp duty on eligible virtual asset transactions, with the tax deducted directly from the cryptocurrency purchased before it is credited to the buyer’s wallet.
According to the new guidelines issued on Monday, anyone buying Bitcoin (BTC), USDT or other cryptocurrencies in Nigeria will receive fewer digital assets due to the deduction.
This requires registered crypto exchanges and other Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) to withhold the levy in the digital asset being traded and remit it to the government, marking Nigeria’s most comprehensive move yet to bring cryptocurrency transactions into the country’s tax net.
Unlike traditional taxes deducted from a customer’s bank account, the 1.5 per cent charge will be taken from the cryptocurrency itself, meaning buyers will receive less Bitcoin, USDT or other tokens than they paid for.
The tax body stated that “income tax deducted at source and stamp duty shall be remitted to the service in the originating token of the transaction.”
Besides the new stamp duty, the guidelines also clarify how income tax, Value Added Tax (VAT) and other tax obligations will apply to virtual asset activities such as trading, staking, mining and other crypto-related transactions.
To illustrate the new rule, the tax authority said a buyer who pays N1 million for one Bitcoin will receive only 0.985 BTC after 0.015 BTC is deducted as stamp duty and remitted to the government. When that Bitcoin is later sold, the next buyer will also have 1.5 per cent deducted from the cryptocurrency credited to their wallet.
The NRS said the guidelines are intended to provide clarity for taxpayers, crypto exchanges, peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace operators, financial institutions, tax consultants and all participants in Nigeria’s virtual asset ecosystem.
According to the guidelines, the 1.5 per cent duty applies to eligible virtual asset transactions facilitated through registered exchanges and other recognised intermediaries. Where a cryptocurrency is used to complete a transaction that already attracts stamp duty under the law, the applicable duty on the underlying instrument will also be payable.
For crypto users, the implication is higher transaction costs, as eligible purchases will attract the 1.5 per cent stamp duty, while VAT on exchange service fees and income tax on taxable gains may also apply, depending on the nature of the transaction.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira opened the week on a positive note, as it appreciated against the US Dollar by N3.39 or 0.25 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, August 3, to N1,364.83/$1 from N1,368.22/$1 last Friday.
However, it suffered a marginal decline against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by 10 Kobo to close at N1,837.89/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,837.79/£1, and lost 6 Kobo on the Euro to sell at N1,573.93/€1, in contrast to the previous trading day’s N1,573.87/€1.
At the black market segment, the Nigerian currency traded flat against the Dollar yesterday at N1,405/$1, and at the GTBank forex counter, it was unchanged at N1,374/$1.
Interbank FX transactions increased sharply as market makers’ activities raised total Dollar volume exchanged to $137.048 million, more than 132 per cent above $58.990 million in turnover at the previous close. The surge in turnover was driven by increased deals at the NFEM window. The central bank reported that deal count at the interbank FX window rose to 138 from 67 on Friday.
As for the cryptocurrency market, major tokens advanced despite ongoing uncertainty around unresolved Coldcard wallet sweeps that have drained hundreds of Bitcoin (BTC), while traders are watching whether bitcoin can hold above $63,000 through the US session. BTC rose by 1.70 per cent to $63,765.88.
Bitcoin treasury firm Strategy disclosed Monday it sold 1,638 bitcoin for about $105 million between July 27 and Aug. 2, its third sale of 2026, per an SEC filing.
Also, an attacker has moved about 1,816 bitcoins, or roughly $114 million, from more than 5,200 addresses since July 30 in a fourth wave of sweeps targeting BTC in Coldcard-generated addresses.
Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 6.7 per cent to $0.1959, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 1.5 per cent to sell for $590.82, Solana (SOL) jumped by 1.3 per cent to $73.72, TRON (TRX) soared by 0.9 per cent to $0.3286, Dogecoin (DOGE) also grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0703, Ripple (XRP) advanced by 0.5 per cent to $1.07, and Ethereum (ETH) rose by 0.4 per cent to $1,863.33, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
