Economy

Profit Taking May Lead to Initial Weakness on Wall Street

Published

9 years ago

26/05/2017

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a modestly lower opening on Friday after stocks closed lower for six consecutive sessions. Profit taking may contribute to early weakness on Wall Street after the recent winning streak lifted the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs.

Renewed concerns about the investigation of Russian meddling in the presidential election may also weigh on the markets amid reports President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has come under FBI scrutiny.

Trading activity may be somewhat subdued on the day, however, as some traders look to get a head start on the Memorial Day weekend.

Stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Thursday, extending their recent winning streak to six sessions. With the continued upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new record closing highs.

The major averages ended the day firmly in positive territory. The Dow rose 70.53 points or 0.3 percent to 21,082.95, the Nasdaq advanced 42.23 points or 0.7 percent to 6,205.26 and the S&P 500 climbed 10.68 points or 0.4 percent to 2,415.07.

The continued strength on Wall Street was partly due to upbeat earnings news from some big-name retailers, which helped offset some recent concerns about consumer spending.

Electronics retailer Best Buy (BBY) also showed a substantial move to the upside after reporting first quarter results that beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines.

Shares of Sears (SHLD) also saw significant strength after the department store operator reported a narrower than expected first quarter loss on revenues that exceeded estimates.

Traders also continued to respond positively to the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting, which included an outline of a plan to trim its $4.5 trillion balance sheet.

Nearly all policymakers expressed a favorable view of the approach, which was seen as consistent with the intention to reduce the Fed’s securities holdings in a gradual and predictable manner.

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Labor Department showed a slight uptick in first-time claims for unemployment benefits in the week ended May 20th.

The report said initial jobless claims inched up to 234,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 233,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to climb to 238,000.

Electronic storage stocks showed a strong move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index up by 2.2 percent. With the jump, the index reached its best closing level in well over a year.

NetApp (NTAP) helped to lead the storage sector higher after the data services company reported better than expected fourth quarter results.

Considerable strength was also visible among transportation stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent advance by the Dow Jones Transportation Average. Norfolk Southern (NSC) and United Continental (UAL) posted notable gains.

Retail, software, and internet stocks also saw significant strength on the day, contributing to the higher close by the broader markets.

On the other hand, energy stocks moved substantially lower amid a steep drop by the price of crude oil. While OPEC agreed to extend a cut in production until March of 2018, investors had been hoping the cartel would announce a further reduction in output.

Oil service stocks showed a particularly sharp decline, dragging the Philadelphia Oil Service Index down by 5.4 percent. The index tumbled to its lowest closing level in over a year.

Economy

Four Securities Erase N51.17bn from NASD Exchange

Published

2 hours ago

27/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Four securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.95 per cent on Friday, erasing N41.17 billion from the bourse, which had its market capitalisation at N2.567 trillion compared with the previous session’s N2.618 trillion.

In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) decreased at the close of business by 85.28 points to 4,277.07 points from 4,362.32 points.

The price decliners were led by 11 Plc, which gave up N20.50 to sell at N200.50 per share compared with the preceding day’s N221.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dropped N16.94 to close at N155.20 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N172.14 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by N2.11 to N84.68 per share from N86.79 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 11 Kobo to end at N16.74 per unit, in contrast to the N16.85 per unit it closed a day earlier.

During the trading day, the value of transactions jumped by 172.1 per cent to N29.9 million from the preceding session’s N10.9 million, and the volume of trades soared by 136.5 per cent to 955,096 units from the previous 403,901 units, while the number of deals went down by 11.4 per cent to 31 deals from 35 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 68.6 million units sold for N4.7 billion.

GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.

Economy

Cautious Trading, Profit-taking Weaken Nigeria’s Stock Exchange by 0.66%

Published

2 hours ago

27/06/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The last trading session of this week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a negative note, with a 0.66 per cent loss on Friday.

This was influenced by sustained selling pressure and cautious trading, which forced investors into profit-taking.

Data obtained by Business Post showed that the energy sector fell by 4.66 per cent, the insurance counter dipped by 2.23 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.96 per cent, and the banking segment shed 0.28 per cent, while the industrial goods space remained unchanged.

At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) of Nigeria’s stock exchange went down by 1,531.81 points to 232,049.02 points from 233,580.83 points, and the market capitalisation dropped N983 billion to settle at N148.905 trillion compared with Thursday’s N149.888 trillion.

Aradel was the worst-performing equity after it lost 10.00 per cent to close at N1,417.50. International Energy Insurance slipped by 9.95 per cent to N5.79, Trans-Nationwide Express depreciated by 9.89 per cent to N3.28, eTranzact crashed by 9.79 per cent to N14.75, and UPDC slumped by 9.72 per cent to N28.12.

The best-performing equity for the day was Universal Insurance, which gained 6.32 per cent to close at N1.01, McNichols grew by 5.52 per cent to N8.60, Linkage Assurance expanded by 4.67 per cent to N1.57, NGX Group appreciated by 4.35 per cent to N120.00, and Transcorp increased by 3.62 per cent to N41.50.

As look at the activity level indicated that investors traded 388.7 million stocks worth N18.4 billion in 44,631 deals compared with the 393.7 million stocks valued at N19.2 billion executed in 45,813 deals a day earlier, representing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 1.27 per cent, 4.17 per cent, and 2.58 per cent, respectively.

Economy

Official FX Market Sees Naira Dip to N1,380.93/$1

Published

2 hours ago

27/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira recorded a loss of 82 Kobo or 0.06 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 26, exchanging at N1,380.93/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,380.11/$1.

Equally, the domestic currency further weakened against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market yesterday by N6.06 to settle at N1,824.90/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,818.84/£1, and lost N10.74 on the Euro to sell at N1,577 .58/€1 versus N1,566.84/€1.

At the GTBank forex counter, the Naira depreciated against the greenback during the session by N4 to close at N1,387/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s value of N1,383/$1, and at the parallel market, it was unchanged at N1,395/$1.

Interbank FX activity among financial institutions has fluctuated amid a sharp slowdown in forex market interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as it allows demand and supply to move the market.

Also, a stronger greenback has generally put significant pressure on emerging-market currencies.

Nigeria has accessed the first tranche of a proposed $5 billion derivatives financing arrangement with First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, the largest lender in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The $5 billion facility, approved by the National Assembly earlier this year, is part of the federal government’s plan to diversify external financing sources and reduce borrowing costs. Structured as a Total Return Swap with First Abu Dhabi Bank, proceeds are earmarked for refinancing debt and supporting infrastructure financing.

If the proceeds are brought into the country through the official FX market, the transaction will increase the currency reserves or Dollar liquidity.

At the cryptocurrency market, Solana (SOL) grew by 2.2 per cent to $71.92, Cardano (ADA) gained 1.1 per cent to trade at $0.1474, Ripple (XRP) also appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $1.05, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 0.9 per cent to $0.0755, and Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.4 per cent to $1,578.84.

On the flip side, TRON (TRX) slid 0.6 per cent to $0.3203, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 0.3 per cent to $564.33, and Bitcoin fell by 0.2 per cent to $60,219.37, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.