Economy
Political Uncertainty Weigh on Wall Street
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a slightly lower opening on Wednesday following the downturn seen over the course of the previous session.
Political uncertainty may weigh on the markets after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced that the Democrat-controlled House is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.
Pelosi said she is directing six House committees to proceed with their investigations under the umbrella of the impeachment inquiry, saying Trump ?must be held accountable? and ?no one is above the law.?
The speaker accused Trump of a breach of his constitutional responsibilities by calling upon a foreign power to intervene in the upcoming election.
Trump faces allegations he threatened to withhold military aid from Ukraine unless Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky conducted an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Early trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders wait for Trump to release a White House transcript of his controversial call with Zelensky.
The president has admitted discussing the issue with Zelensky but has repeatedly claimed there was ?no quid pro quo.?
Reports have indicated the transcript of Trump?s call will with Zelensky does not include a ?smoking gun,? potentially taking the sting out of the Democrats? impeachment threat.
Conservative media outlets have also already begun seeking to damage the credibility of the whistleblower who brought the issue to light.
Stocks moved to the upside early in the trading day on Tuesday but showed a significant downturn over the course of the session. The major averages pulled back well off their early highs and firmly into negative territory.
The major averages climbed off their worst levels but remained stuck in the red. The Dow fell 142.22 points or 0.5 percent to 26,807.77, the Nasdaq tumbled 118.84 points or 1.5 percent to 7,993.63 and the S&P 500 slid 25.18 points or 0.8 percent to 2,966.60.
Early buying interest faded following the release of a report from the Conference Board showing a substantial deterioration in U.S. consumer confidence in the month of September.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index tumbled to 125.1 in September from a downwardly revised 134.2 in August.
Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to dip to 133.0 from the 135.1 originally reported for the previous month.
Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at the Conference Board, said an escalation in trade and tariff tensions in late August appears to have rattled consumers.
“However, this pattern of uncertainty and volatility has persisted for much of the year and it appears confidence is plateauing,” Franco said.
She added, “While confidence could continue hovering around current levels for months to come, at some point this continued uncertainty will begin to diminish consumers’ confidence in the expansion.”
Stocks saw further downside in afternoon trading amid reports Pelosi was prepared to announce a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump.
Oil service stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the session, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 5.1 percent. The sell-off by oil service stocks came amid a steep drop by the price of crude oil.
Substantial weakness also emerged among steel stocks, as reflected by the 2.8 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Steel Index.
Biotechnology stocks also showed a significant move to the downside on the day, with the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index plunging by 2.4 percent.
Natural gas, brokerage, and semiconductor stocks also saw notable weakness, while considerable strength was visible among gold and utilities stocks.
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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