Economy
Looming Fed Meeting May Lead to Choppy Trading on Wall Street
By Investors Hub
Major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher on Friday as traders digest the results of the election in the U.K. The upward momentum on Wall Street comes even though no party gained a clear majority in the U.K. election, resulting in a hung parliament.
Nonetheless, trading activity may be somewhat subdued on the day as traders look ahead to next week’s Federal Reserve meeting.
CME Group’s FedWatch Tool indicates a 99.6 percent chance that the Fed will raise interest rates by a quarter point next week.
With the Fed widely expected to raise rates, traders will pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about future rate hikes.
Stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Thursday as traders kept an eye on developments on Capitol Hill. Despite the choppy trading, the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed to a new record closing high.
The major averages all closed in positive territory, although the Nasdaq outperformed its counterparts. While the Nasdaq rose 24.38 points or 0.4 percent to 6,321.76, the Dow edged up 8.84 points or less than 0.1 percent to 21,182.53 and the S&P 500 crept up 0.65 points or less than 0.1 percent to 2,433.79.
The lackluster performance on Wall Street came as traders focused on former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
The questioning of Comey came after his statement released by the committee on Wednesday appeared to confirm some recent reports about his interactions with Trump.
The statement included details of a conversation during which Trump seemed to ask Comey to drop an investigation of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s contact with Russian officials.
“I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go,” Trump said, according to Comey.
Comey told the committee he took the comment from Trump as a directive but said the determination of whether the request amounted to obstruction of justice would be up to Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
However, Trump’s personal attorney Marc Kasowitz rejected many of Comey’s claims, denying the allegation that the president called for an end of the investigation of Flynn.
The European Central Bank announced its latest monetary policy decision earlier in the day, with the ECB leaving its benchmark interest rate unchanged.
The ECB said interest rates are expected to remain at their present levels for an extended period of time but dropped any reference to a future rate cut.
In his subsequent statement, ECB President Mario Draghi lowered the outlook for euro area inflation, citing lower oil prices.
Steel stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading session, driving the NYSE Arca Steel Index up by 2.9 percent. Ryerson (RYI) and Olympic Steel (ZEUS) posted standout gains.
The strength among steel stocks came as comments from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross suggested the administration is preparing new steel import restrictions.
Considerable strength was also visible among financial stocks, with the Dow Jones Banks Index and the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index climbing by 1.7 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.
Semiconductor, computer hardware, and internet stocks also saw notable strength, helping to lift the tech-heavy Nasdaq to a new record closing high.
On the other hand, gold stocks showed a substantial move to the downside, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 1.8 percent. The weakness among gold stocks came amid a steep drop by the price of the precious metal.
By Dipo Olowookere
It was a good day for the stock market in Nigeria as it appreciated by 0.79 per cent on Friday to bring the year-to-date return to 0.66 per cent.
This was influenced by renewed interest across most of the sectors of the market, though the insurance index declined by 2.15 per cent when trading activities ended for the session.
Business Post reports that the banking counter appreciated by 1.97 per cent, the consumer goods space grew by 0.70 per cent, the industrial goods sector gained 0.09 per cent, and the energy counter closed flat.
Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 810.26 points to 103,598.46 points from the preceding day’s 102,788.20 points and the market capitalisation by N497 billion to N63.645 trillion from Thursday’s N63.148 trillion.
Chellaram was the biggest price gainer on Friday after it chalked up 10.00 per cent to trade at N4.07, Guinness Nigeria also appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N77.00, SCOA Nigeria improved by 10.00 per cent to N3.96, Transcorp Power jumped by 7.96 per cent to N349.80, and Lasaco Assurance went up by 7.19 per cent to N3.28.
Conversely, Neimeth was the biggest price loser as it shed 9.88 per cent to N3.10, John Holt declined by 9.78 per cent to N8.30, International Energy Insurance depleted by 9.74 per cent to N1.76, Sovereign Trust Insurance fell by 9.40 per cent to N1.06, and Austin Laz lost 9.00 per cent to close at N1.82.
As for the activity chart, a total of 576.4 million stocks valued at N9.0 billion in 11,546 deals compared with the 394.4 million stocks worth N22.8 billion traded in 12,160 deals in the preceding session, indicating a rise in the trading volume by 46.15 per cent, and a decline in the trading value and number of deals by 60.53 per cent and 5.05 per cent.
Secure Electronic Technology was the busiest equity with 202.2 million units worth N151.8 million, Nigerian Breweries traded 42.1 million units valued at N1.3 billion, Japaul exchanged 34.6 million units for N79.7 million, Access Holdings sold 32.2 million units valued at N807.0 million, and Sovereign Trust Insurance traded 17.0 million units worth N18.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.42 per cent gain on Friday, January 24 after three equities ended on the advancers’ chart at the close of business.
Nipco Plc gained N15.01 during the trading day to close at N165.11 per share versus N150.10 per share of the preceding session, Okitipupa Plc added N4.79 to end the session at N52.69 per unit compared with Thursday’s trading value of N47.90 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc expanded by 80 Kobo to trade at N24.00 per share, in contrast to the N23.30 per share it was sold a day earlier.
The gains recorded by these stocks pushed the value of the bourse higher by NN7.41 billion to N1.775 trillion from the N1.767 trillion recorded in the preceding session and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) grew by 6.93 points to wrap the session at 3,133.20 points compared with 3,120.13 points recorded in the previous session.
Yesterday, the price of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc went down by 92 Kobo to end the session at N38.58 per share, in contrast to the previous day’s N39.50 per share.
The volume of securities traded in the session decreased on Friday by 95.9 per cent to 16.3 million units from 407.4 million units, the value of shares traded yesterday slumped by 97.4 per cent to N10.2 million from N391.2 million units, and the number of deals declined by 23.3 per cent to 23 deals from 30 deals.
Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 406.5 million units worth N386.1 million, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 4.3 million units valued at N170.4 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.1 million units sold for N44.3 million.
Impresit Bakolori Plc was also the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 406.5 million units worth N386.1 million, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 26.3 million units sold for N6.3 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.2 million units valued at N44.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira extended its recent gaining spree by 1.12 per cent or N17.39 on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, January 24.
Yesterday, the local currency was traded in the official market at N1,531.20/$1 compared with the preceding trading day’s value of N1,548.59/$1.
The recent appreciation aligns with expectations that the Naira will appreciate in the first quarter of the year, backed by continued policy support by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with the latest being the launch of the FX Code due next week to enhance transparency in the market.
Also, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the spot market on the last trading day of the week by N8.97 to quote at N1,903.24/£1, in contrast to Thursday’s exchange rate of N1,912.21/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N8.72 to finish at N1,605.17/€1 versus the preceding day’s N1,613.89/€1.
In the same vein, the domestic currency appreciated against the American Dollar in the parallel market yesterday to sell for N1,660/$1 compared with the N1,665/$1 it was traded a day earlier.
In the cryptocurrency market, there was profit-taking following earlier euphoria around US President Donald Trump’s ambitious “Stargate Project” announcement, which is a $500 billion commitment to enhancing the US AI infrastructure.
Crypto commentators believe this signals a shift toward reduced oversight with the pledge unveiled on Tuesday, bringing together tech giants OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank with an initial commitment of $100 billion, scaling to $500 billion over four years.
Solana (SOL) dipped by 4.9 per cent to trade at $247.14, Ethereum (ETH) dropped 2.8 per cent to $3,290.29, Dogecoin (DOGE) fell by 2.4 per cent to $0.3488, and Cardano (ADA) slid by 2.1 per cent to $0.9763.
Further, Ripple (XRP) went down by 1.9 per cent to $3.11, Binance Coin (BNB) shrank by 0.7 per cent to $687.71, and Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 0.6 per cent to $104,369.28, while Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $121.63, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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