Economy
Mixed Jobs Data in Focus on Wall Street
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Friday following the release of the closely watched monthly employment report.
The downward momentum on Wall Street comes as the report from the Labor Department showed weaker than expected job growth in the month of April but a bigger than expected drop by the unemployment rate.
After falling sharply early in the session, stocks staged a significant recovery attempt over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages pared their losses considerably before ending the session mixed.
While the Dow managed to end the day slightly higher, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 closed in negative territory. The Dow inched up 5.17 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 23,930.15, but the Nasdaq edged down 12.75 points or 0.2 percent to 7,088.15 and the S&P 500 dipped 5.94 points or 0.2 percent at 2,629.73.
The recovery attempt on Wall Street came as traders picked up stocks at reduced levels, with the Dow bouncing off its lowest intraday level in a month.
Uncertainty about the outcome of highly anticipated trade talks between the U.S. and China contributed to the early sell-off.
The U.S. delegation led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is expected to raise concerns with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He about a number of China’s trade practices.
In a post to Twitter, President Donald Trump said, “Our great financial team is in China trying to negotiate a level playing field on trade!”
“I look forward to being with President Xi in the not too distant future,” he added. “We will always have a good (great) relationship!”
Ahead of the talks, the Commerce Department released a report showing a significantly narrower U.S. trade deficit in the month of March.
The Commerce Department said the trade deficit narrowed to $49.0 billion in March from a revised $57.7 billion in February. Economists had expected the trade deficit to narrow to $50.0 billion.
The narrower trade deficit came as the value of exports jumped by 2 percent to $208.5 billion, while the value of imports tumbled by 1.8 percent to $257.5 billion.
However, the Commerce Department said the trade deficit with China widened to $35.4 billion in March from $34.7 billion in February, as imports rose by more than exports.
Negative sentiment was also generated by the release of a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing a bigger than expected slowdown in the pace of growth in the service sector in the month of April.
The ISM said its non-manufacturing index fell to 56.8 in April from 58.8 in March. While a reading above 50 still indicates growth in the service sector, economists had expected the index to show a more modest decrease to 58.1.
Tobacco stocks showed a significant move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index up by 1.5 percent. The index bounced off its lowest closing level in almost three months.
Considerable strength also emerged among housing stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent gain posted by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index.
On the other hand, notable weakness remained visible among natural gas stocks, with the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index slumping by 2.3 percent.
Most of the other major sectors ended the day showing more modest moves, contributing to the lackluster close by the broader markets.
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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