Economy

Optimism About More Dovish Fed May Generate Buying Interest

Published

7 years ago

19/12/2018

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Wednesday, with stocks likely to add to the gains posted in yesterday?s volatile session.

Traders may once again look to pick up stocks at reduced levels after the markets were unable to sustain the initial upward move in the previous session.

The major averages managed to end Tuesday?s trading in positive territory, although many sectors extended recent sell-offs.

The markets may also benefit from optimism the Federal Reserve will strike a more dovish tone in its announcement of its latest monetary policy decision this afternoon.

The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by a quarter point, but traders will closely scrutinize the central bank?s accompanying statement and forecasts for clues about future rate hikes.

Ahead of the announcement, President Donald Trump has been urging the Fed to refrain from its gradual pace of raising rates.

?Don?t let the market become any more illiquid than it already is,? Trump told the Fed in a post on Twitter on Tuesday. ?Stop with the 50 B’s. Feel the market, don’t just go by meaningless numbers. Good luck!?

While the Fed will not want to be seen as bowing to political pressure, the central bank may still signal a slower pace of rate hikes due to recent disappointing economic data, low inflation, and concerns about the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and China.

After failing to sustain an early move to the upside, stocks continued to experience substantial volatility over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. The major averages fluctuated wildly as the day progressed before closing in positive territory.

The S&P 500 hit its lowest intraday level in over a year but ended the up just 0.22 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 2,546.16. The Dow rose 82.66 points or 0.4 percent to 23,675.64 and the Nasdaq climbed 30.18 points or 0.5 percent to 6,783.91.

The initial strength on Wall Street was partly due to bargain hunting, with traders picking up stocks at reduced levels on the heels of the sharp drop seen over the two previous sessions.

The pullback seen Monday afternoon pulled the Dow down to its lowest closing level in over eight months, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 dropped to their lowest closing levels in over a year.

The subsequent volatility came as traders remained on edge ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing a substantial increase in U.S. housing starts in November, as a spike in multi-family starts more than offset a continued drop in single-family starts.

The Commerce Department said housing starts jumped by 3.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.256 million in November from the revised October estimate of 1.217 million.

Economists had expected housing starts to edge down to a rate of 1.225 million from the 1.228 million originally reported for the previous month.

The report also said building permits surged up by 5.0 percent to an annual rate of 1.328 million in November from the revised October rate of 1.265 million.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, had been expected to dip to a rate of 1.259 million from the 1.263 million originally reported for October.

Gold stocks showed a substantial move to the upside over the course of the session, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 2.3 percent. With the jump, the index reached a four-month closing high.

The rally by gold stocks came amid a modest increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for February delivery rising $1.80 to $1,253.60 an ounce.

Housing stocks also saw considerable strength on the heels of the housing starts data, moving notably higher along with computer hardware and semiconductor stocks.

On the other hand, energy stocks moved sharply lower amid a steep drop by the price of crude oil. Crude for January delivery plunged $3.64 to a fifteen-month closing low of $46.24 a barrel amid concerns about oversupply.

Oil service stocks turned in some of the energy sector’s worst performances, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 2.7 percent to its lowest closing level in fifteen years.

Tobacco stocks also extended a recent sell-off, while considerable weakness also emerged among biotechnology and banking stocks.

Economy

CSCS, Geo-Fluids, FrieslandCampina Lift NASD OTC Bourse by 0.62%

Published

1 day ago

13/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Three bellwether stocks lifted the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.62 per cent on Friday, December 12 with the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) jumping by 22.20 points to 3,600.43 points from 3,578.23 points.

In the same vein, the market capitalisation of the trading platform increased by N13.28 billion to close at N2.154 trillion from the previous day’s N2.140 trillion.

During the session, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went up by N2.53 to close at N39.71 per share compared with the previous day’s N37.18 per share, Geo-Fluids Plc added 35 Kobo to its price to finish at N5.00 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N4.65 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by 23 Kobo appreciation to sell at N60.23 per share versus N60.00 per share.

It was observed that yesterday, the price of Golden Capital Plc went down by N1.05 to N9.45 per unit from N10.50 per unit, and UBN Propertiy Plc declined by 21 Kobo to N2.01 per share from the N2.22 per share it was traded a day earlier.

There was a significant improvement in the level of activity for the day, as the volume of transactions increased by 6.2 per cent to 37.4 million units from the previous day’s 35.2 million units, the value of trades went up by 265.1 per cent to N4.9 billion from N1.4 billion, and the number of deals soared by 13.80 per cent to 33 deals from 29 deals.

Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc ended the last trading day of this week as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, the second spot was taken by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units traded for N9.5 billion, and third space was occupied by a new comer in MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units worth N4.9 billion.

InfraCredit Plc also finished the session as the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units valued at N420.3 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 537.0 million units sold for N524.9 million.

Economy

Guinness Nigeria, Others Buoy NGX Index 1.00% Growth

Published

1 day ago

13/12/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The bullish run on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited continued on Friday with a further 1.00 per cent growth buoyed by gains recorded by Guinness Nigeria, Champion Breweries, and others.

Data showed that the consumer goods space expanded by 1.53 per cent during the last trading session of the week, as the insurance counter grew by 0.51 per cent, and the industrial goods sector marginally gained 0.01 per cent.

However, the banking index depreciated by 0.54 per cent due to a pocket of profit-taking, and the energy industry shrank by 0.09 per cent, while the commodity sector closed flat.

Guinness Nigeria gained 10.00 per cent to trade at N217.80, Morison Industries rose by 9.84 per cent to N4.69, Champion Breweries jumped by 9.69 per cent to N14.15, Austin Laz grew by 9.66 per cent to N2.27, and C&I Leasing appreciated by 9.62 per cent to N5.70.

Conversely, eTranzact lost 10.00 per cent to finish at N12.60, Chellarams slumped by 9.00 per cent to N13.20, Eunisell depleted by 9.89 per cent to N75.15, Africa Prudential moderated by 9.77 per cent to N12.00, and DAAR Communications decreased by 9.18 per cent to 89 Kobo.

The busiest stock on Friday was Access Holdings with 107.6 million units sold for N2.2 billion, Consolidated Hallmark traded 59.9 million units worth N245.8 million, Zenith Bank transacted 48.2 million units valued at N3.1 billion, Transcorp Power transacted 42.8 million units for N13.1 billion, and Champion Breweries exchanged 36.4 million units valued at N510.2 million.

At the close of business, a total of 602.8 million units worth N30.7 billion exchanged hands in 20,550 deals yesterday, in contrast to the 529.7 million units valued at N12.3 billion traded in 18,159 deals on Thursday, representing a surge in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 13.80 per cent, 149.59 per cent, and 13.17 per cent apiece.

Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) soared during the session by 1,485.89 points to 149,436.48 points from 147,950.59 points and the market capitalisation moved up by N945 billion to N95.264 trillion from N94.319 trillion.

Economy

Naira Chalks up 0.11% on USD at NAFEM as CBN Defends Market

Published

1 day ago

13/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

An intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the foreign exchange (FX) market eased the pressure on the Naira on Friday.

The apex bank sold forex to banks and other authorised dealers in the official window to defend the domestic currency, helping to calm the FX demand pressure, with the Nigerian currency appreciating against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by 0.11 per cent or N1.57 to sell at N1,454.50/$1 compared with Thursday’s closing price of N1,456.07/$1.

Also, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N3.95 to close at N1,946.15/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,950.11/£1 but lost 10 Kobo on the Euro to quote at N1,706.46/€1 compared with the N1,706.36/€1 it was exchanged a day earlier.

At the black market segment, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the Dollar during the session at N1,470/$1 and also traded flat at N1,463/$1 at the GTBank forex counter.

Despite the sigh of relief, demand pressures outweighed the robust supply from the CBN and inflow from offshore players looking to participate at the OMO bills auction.

Gross FX reserves increased for the twenty fifth consecutive week, growing by a strong $396.84 million week-on-week to $45.44 billion.

As for the cryptocurrency market, it was down on Friday as pressure remained after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s speech on Wednesday, which hinted at a possible rate cut pause in January. As a result, markets now expect only two rate cuts in 2026 instead of three.

However, Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee, who was against a December rate cut, said he expects more in 2026 than the current median projection.

Ethereum (ETH) slumped by 5.1 per cent to $3,090.61, Solana (SOL) declined by 4.5 per cent to $132.79, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 3.8 per cent to $0.4103, and Dogecoin (DOGE) dropped 2.5 per cent to trade at $0.1373.

In addition, Bitcoin (BTC) lost 2.4 per cent to sell at $90,342.74, Litecoin (LTC) tumbled by 1.9 per cent to $81.86, Binance Coin (BNB) fell by 0.6 per cent to $886.93, and Ripple (XRP) slipped by 0.5 per cent to $2.02, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.