Economy
Major US Index Futures Open Higher After Tuesday’s Sharp Pullback
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Wednesday following the sharp pullback seen late in the previous session.
Renewed optimism about upcoming U.S.-China trade talks may generate initial buying interest after a report from Bloomberg News said China is still open to reaching a partial trade deal with the U.S.
An official with direct knowledge of the talks told Bloomberg that negotiators aren?t optimistic about securing a broad agreement to end the U.S.-China war but said China would accept a limited deal as long as President Donald Trump does not impose any more tariffs.
In return, the official told Bloomberg, Beijing would offer non-core concessions like purchases of agricultural products without giving in on major sticking points.
The positive reaction to the report reflects the intense focus on the next round of high-level trade talks set to begin on Thursday.
Nonetheless, overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued as traders look ahead to the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve?s latest monetary policy meeting.
The minutes may shed additional light on the Fed?s decision to cut interest by 25 basis points in September and provide clues about the outlook for future rate cuts.
After coming under pressure early in the session, stocks regained some ground over the course of the trading day on Tuesday before pulling back sharply going into the close. The major averages ended the day firmly in negative territory.
The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 fell to new lows in late-day trading, while the Dow remained off its worst levels. The Dow still slumped 313.98 points or 1.2 percent to 26,164.04, the Nasdaq plunged 132.52 points or 1.7 percent to 7,823.78 and the S&P 500 tumbled 45.73 points or 1.6 percent to 2,893.06.
Selling pressure re-emerged late in the session following news the Trump administration imposed visa restrictions on Chinese officials over abuses of Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region.
The new visa restrictions come just two days before the U.S. and China are scheduled to resume high-level trade talks in Washington.
Optimism about the trade talks had already waned after a report from the South China Morning Post said China is subtly toning down expectations ahead of this week’s high-level negotiations.
The SCMP said Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is leading China’s delegation to Washington but will not carry the title of “special envoy” for President Xi Jinping, an early indication that Liu has not been given any particular instructions from China’s leader.
A source briefed on preparations for the trade talks also told the SCMP that the Chinese delegation may cut short their stay in Washington.
News the U.S. has expanded its trade blacklist to include some of China’s top artificial intelligence firms has also cast a shadow over the talks along with a Bloomberg report the White House is discussing blocking government pension funds from investing in China.
Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a Labor Department report showing an unexpected decrease in U.S. producer prices in the month of September.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand fell by 0.3 percent in September after inching up by 0.1 percent in August. The drop surprised economists, who had expected another 0.1 percent uptick.
Excluding food and energy prices, core producer prices also slid by 0.3 percent in September after climbing by 0.3 percent in August. Economists had expected core prices to rise by 0.2 percent.
The tame inflation data may clear the way for the Federal Reserve to continue cutting interest rates amid signs of slowing economic growth.
In remarks at the National Association for Business Economics annual meeting in Denver, Colorado, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated his pledge to “act as appropriate” to support continued growth, a strong job market, and inflation moving back to the Fed’s symmetric 2 percent objective.
Powell also indicated that the central bank intends to resume increasing the size of its balance sheet following recent, unexpectedly intense volatility in wholesale funding markets.
Semiconductor stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 3.1 percent to its lowest closing level in over a month.
Chipmaker Ambarella (AMBA) posted a particularly steep loss after one of its Chinese customers was blacklisted by the U.S. government.
Significant weakness was also visible among natural gas stocks, as reflected by the 3 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index. The index ended the session at a nearly fifteen-year closing low.
Biotechnology, computer hardware, and banking stocks also saw considerable weakness on the day, reflecting broad based selling pressure on Wall Street.
Meanwhile, gold stocks were among the few groups to buck the downtrend, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surging up by 3 percent.
The rally by gold stocks came as the price of the precious metal moved to the upside in electronic trading after ending the regular session slightly lower.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited further depreciated by 0.84 per cent on Monday as a result of sell-offs in PZ Cussons, BUA Cement and others.
During the session, apart from the consumer goods index, which closed higher by 0.59 per cent, every other index closed lower, with the industrial goods sector the heaviest loser after shedding 3.28 per cent. The insurance space declined by 2.18 per cent, the banking sector depleted by 1.44 per cent, and the energy segment shrank by 0.09 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) retreated by 2,049.65 points to 241,749.11 points from 243,798.76 points, and the market capitalisation contracted by 1.315 trillion to N155.130 trillion from N156.445 trillion.
The market was under selling pressure yesterday, as reflected in the market breadth index, which was negative after closing with 48 price losers and 22 price gainers, indicating weak investor sentiment.
PZ Cussons was the worst-performing stock after shedding 10.00 per cent to finish at N81.00, BUA Cement lost 9.99 per cent to settle at N306.20, Red Star Express declined by 9.98 per cent to N22.10, RT Briscoe depreciated by 9.70 per cent to N12.10, and C&I Leasing dropped 9.38 per cent to trade at N28.12.
The best-performing equity for the day was International Breweries, which chalked up 9.77 per cent to quote at N14.60, NAHCO improved by 8.36 per cent to N177.00, UAC Nigeria expanded by 8.11 per cent to N199.95, DAAR Communication grew by 6.67 per cent to N1.76, and Vitafoam Nigeria gained 5.87 per cent to close at N194.80.
During the session, investors bought and sold 523.5 million shares worth N22.3 billion in 59,945 deals compared with the 441.3 million shares valued at N19.4 billion traded in 44,938 deals last Friday, indicating an increase in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 18.63 per cent, 14.95 per cent, and 33.40 per cent, respectively.
FCMB closed the day as the most traded stock, with 102.2 million units valued at N1.0 billion. International Breweries sold 26.8 million units worth N387.2 million, Access Holdings exchanged 24.8 million units for N618.2 million, McNichols traded 20.3 million units worth N95.0 million, and Stanbic IBTC transacted 18.4 million units valued at N2.9 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria met its production quota set by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as crude oil and condensate production soared to an average of 1,735,398 barrels per day in June 2026, representing positive growth for a fourth consecutive month.
This is according to a statement released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and signed by its Head of Media and Corporate Communications, Mr Eniola Akinkuotu, on Sunday.
The regulator noted that in June, crude oil production hit 1.56 million barrels per day while 0.18 million barrels per day of condensates were produced. The commission revealed that Nigeria met 104 per cent of the 1.5 million barrels per day crude oil production quota set by OPEC.
Business Post reports that OPEC quota doesn’t account for condensates in its count.
In strict crude oil terms (excluding condensates), the 1.56 million daily average production Nigeria witnessed in June is the highest that Africa’s biggest oil producer has recorded since April 2020, thus representing a 74-month high.
In June, NUPRC noted that the peak combined crude oil and condensate production was 1.89 million barrels per day, reflecting Nigeria’s potential to reach 2 million barrels per day in the near term. However, the lowest production was 1.57 million barrels per day for the period in review.
According to the upstream regulator, the improved performance was primarily driven by stable production operations across most producing assets and the absence of any major pipeline outages during the period under review.
This enhanced operational stability supported improved production uptime and crude evacuation efficiency.
Nigeria, which is Africa’s biggest oil producer, has not been able to top its record-high production of 2.5 million barrels per day recorded in 2025 due to challenges ranging from underinvestment to oil theft.
By Dipo Olowookere
On the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last week, investors transacted 3.648 billion shares worth N220.568 billion in 251,861 deals compared with the 3.821 billion shares valued at N154.393 billion traded in 258,567 deals a week earlier.
Analysis showed that financial stocks led the activity chart with 2.899 billion units sold for N147.360 billion in 106,603 deals, accounting for 79.48 per cent and 66.81 per cent of the total trading volume and value, respectively.
Services equities recorded a turnover of 164.914 million units valued at N3.615 billion in 16,375 deals, and the consumer goods shares exchanged 157.451 million units worth N7.777 billion in 27,950 deals.
First Holdco, Zenith Bank, and Fidelity Bank were the busiest stocks for the five-day trading week, trading 1.745 billion units valued at N121.828 billion in 31,053 deals, contributing 47.85 per cent and 55.23 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
Business Post reports that 60 equities appreciated during the week versus 22 equities in the previous week, 28 shares depreciated versus 57 shares of the preceding week, and 58 stocks closed flat versus 67 stocks of the previous week.
International Breweries gained 40.00 per cent to trade at N13.30, RT Briscoe expanded by 32.02 per cent to N13.40, Livestock Feeds improved by 28.47 per cent to N9.25, First Holdco chalked up 25.82 per cent to close at N69.20, and Abbey Bank rose by 23.65 per cent to N9.15.
On the flip side, McNichols lost 28.57 per cent to finish at N5.00, Thomas Wyatt gave up 11.64 per cent to quote at N2.43, Geregu Power declined by 10.00 per cent to N825.70, CAP shed 9.99 per cent to settle at N157.60, and Guinness Nigeria also slipped by 9.99 per cent to N329.00.
Customs Street was under buying pressure last week, making the All-Share Index (ASI) and the market capitalisation close higher by 6.35 per cent to 243,798.76 points and N156.445 trillion, respectively.
In the same vein, all other indices finished higher apart from the growth and sovereign bond indices, which depreciated by 7.43 per cent and 0.02 per cent, respectively.
