Economy
Profit Taking May Pullback Wall Street
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Thursday, with stocks likely to give back ground after trending higher over the past several sessions.
Profit taking may contribute to initial weakness on Wall Street, as traders cash in on the recent strength in the markets that has lifted the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 to record highs.
Uncertainty about trade talks between the U.S., Canada and Mexico may also weigh on the markets along with concerns about the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and China.
The U.S. is considering imposing tariffs on another $200 billion worth of Chinese goods as early as next months, and the response from China may have significant consequences for the global economy and currencies.
Extending the upward trend seen in recent sessions, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading session. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 climbed to new record closing highs, while the Dow reached its best closing level in nearly seven months.
The major averages all closed in positive territory, although the Nasdaq outperformed its counterparts. While the Nasdaq jumped 79.65 points or 1 percent to 8,109.69, the S&P 500 climbed 16.52 points or 0.6 percent to 2,914.04 and the S&P 500 rose 60.55 points or 0.2 percent to 26,124.57.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq benefited from notable gains by Amazon (AMZN) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), which surged up by 3.4 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively, after Morgan Stanley raised its price targets for both stocks.
The continued strength on Wall Street also reflected optimism about renewed trade talks between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
Canada rejoined the talks following President Donald Trump’s announcement of a preliminary trade deal with Mexico on Monday.
In remarks to reporters on Tuesday, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said “difficult” concessions by Mexico have set the stage for productive conversations in the coming days.
Freeland said she was due to engage into detailed discussions with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Wednesday.
On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing economic activity grew by more than initially estimated in the second quarter.
The report said real gross domestic product climbed by 4.2 percent in the second quarter compared to the previously reported 4.1 increase. The pace of growth had been expected to be downwardly revised to 4.0 percent.
With the unexpected upward revision, the GDP growth in the second quarter reflects a significant acceleration from the 2.2 percent advance in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, a separate report from the National Association of Realtors showed an unexpected pullback in pending home sales in the month of July.
NAR said its pending home sales index dropped by 0.7 percent to 106.2 in July after jumping by 1.0 percent to an upwardly revised 107.0 in June. Economists had expected pending home sales to rise by 0.3 percent.
A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.
Biotechnology stocks turned in some of the market’s best performances on the day, extending a recent upward trend. The NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index climbed by 1.3 percent to a new record closing high.
Significant strength also emerged among retail stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain posted by the Dow Jones Retail Index. The index also ended the session at its best closing level on record.
Energy stocks also saw considerable strength, moving higher along with the price of crude oil. Crude for October delivery jumped following the release of a report showing a bigger than expected weekly drop in crude oil inventories.
On the other hand, tobacco stocks extended a recent move to the downside, dragging the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index down by 1.4 percent to a three-month closing low.
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market firmed up by 1.13 per cent on Friday as appetite for Nigerian stocks remained strong.
Investors reacted well to the 2026 budget presentation of President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly yesterday, especially because of the more realistic crude oil benchmark of $64 per barrel compared with the ambitious $75 per barrel for 2025. This year, prices have been between $60 and $65 per barrel.
Business Post observed profit-taking in the commodity and energy sectors as they respectively shed 0.14 per cent and 0.03 per cent.
But, bargain-hunting in the others sustained the positive run, with the consumer goods index up by 3.82 per cent.
Further, the industrial goods space appreciated by 1.46 per cent, the banking counter improved by 0.08 per cent, and the insurance industry gained 0.04 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,694.33 points to 152,057.38 points from 150,363.05 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N1.080 trillion to finish at N96.937 trillion compared with Thursday’s closing value of N95.857 trillion.
A total of 34 shares ended on the advancers’ chart, while 24 were on the laggards’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
Austin Laz gained 10.00 per cent to close at N2.42, Union Dicon also jumped 10.00 per cent to N6.60, Tantalizers increased by 9.80 per cent to N2.69, Aluminium Extrusion improved by 9.78 per cent to N12.35, and Champion Breweries grew by 9.71 per cent to N16.95.
Conversely, Sovereign Trust Insurance dipped by 7.42 per cent to N3.87, Royal Exchange lost 6.84 per cent to trade at N1.77, Omatek slipped by 6.84 per cent to N1.09, Eunisell depreciated by 5.88 per cent to N80.00, and Eterna dropped 5.63 per cent to close at N28.50.
Yesterday, traders transacted 1.5 billion units worth N21.8 billion in 25,667 deals compared with the 839.8 million units sold for N32.8 billion in 23,211 deals in the preceding session, showing a surge in the trading volume by 76.61 per cent, an uptick in the number of deals by 10.58 per cent, and a shrink in the trading value by 33.54 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three stocks stretched the bearish run of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.21 per cent on Friday, December 19, with the market capitalisation giving up N26.01 billion to close at N2.121 billion compared with the N2.147 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropping 43.47 points to 3,546.41 points from 3,589.88 points.
The trio of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, and NASD Plc overpowered the gains printed by four other securities.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N6.00 to sell at N54.00 per unit versus N60.00 per unit, NASD Plc shrank by N3.50 to N58.50 per share from N55.00 per share, and CSCS Plc depleted by N2.91 to N33.87 per unit from N36.78 per unit.
On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc gained N1.01 to close at N13.00 per share versus N11.99 per share, Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 70 Kobo to N7.68 per unit from N6.98 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc added 39 Kobo to sell at N5.50 per share versus N5.11 per share, and IPWA Plc rose by 8 Kobo to 85 Kobo per unit from 77 Kobo per unit.
During the trading day, market participants traded 1.9 million securities versus the previous day’s 30.5 million securities showing a decline of 49.3 per cent. The value of trades went down by 64.3 per cent to N80.3 million from N225.1 million, but the number of deals jumped by 32.1 per cent to 37 deals from 28 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc finished the session as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units traded for N4.9 billion.
The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was still InfraCredit Plc with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira at the two major foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday as it suffered a heavy loss against the United States Dollar at the close of transactions.
In the black market segment, the Naira weakened against its American counterpart yesterday by N10 to quote at N1,485/$1, in contrast to the N1,475/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the GTBank forex counter, it depreciated by N2 to settle at N1,467/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,465/$1.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) window, which is also the official market, the nation’s legal tender crashed against the greenback by N6.65 or 0.46 per cent to close at N1,464.49/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,457.84/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency tumbled against the Euro in the spot market by N2.25 to sell for N1,714.63/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,712.38/€1, but appreciated against the Pound Sterling by 73 Kobo to finish at N1,957.30/£1 compared with the N1,958.03/£1 it was traded in the preceding session.
The market continues to face seasonal pressure even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is still conducting FX intervention sales, which have significantly reduced but not remove pressure from the Naira. Also, there seems to be reduced supply from exporters, foreign portfolio investors and non-bank corporate inflows.
President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented the government’s N58.47 trillion budget plan aimed at consolidating economic reforms and boosting growth.
The budget is based on a projected crude oil price of $64.85 a barrel and includes a target oil output of 1.84 million barrels a day. It also projects an exchange rate of N1,400 to the Dollar.
President Tinubu said inflation had plunged to an annual rate of 14.45 per cent in November from 24.23 per cent in March, while foreign reserves had surged to a seven-year high of $47 billion.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was dominated by the bulls but it continues to face increased pressure after million in liquidations in previous session over accelerating declines, with Dogecoin (DOGE) recovering 4.2 per cent to trade at $0.1309.
Further, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $1.90, Cardano (ADA) rose by 3.5 per cent to $0.3728, Solana (SOL) jumped by 3.4 per cent to $126.23, Ethereum (ETH) climbed by 2.9 per cent to $2,982.42, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 2.0 per cent to sell for $853.06, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 1.7 per cent to $88,281.21, and Litecoin (LTC) soared by 1.2 per cent to $76.50, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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