Economy

Renewed Trade Deal Uncertainty Weigh on Wall Street

Published

7 years ago

31/10/2019

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a pointing to a lower opening on Thursday, with stocks likely to move back to the downside after ending the previous session moderately higher.

Renewed uncertainty about the potential for a long-term U.S.-China trade deal may contribute to initial weakness on Wall Street.

Optimism about phase one of a trade deal has contribute to recent strength on Wall Street, but a new report from Bloomberg said Chinese officials are casting doubts about reaching a comprehensive long-term trade agreement.

People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Chinese officials have warned in private conversations that they are unwilling to budge on the thorniest issues.

Early selling pressure may be somewhat subdued, however, with better than expected earnings news from tech giant Apple (AAPL) likely to help limit the downside.

With traders reacting positively to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision, stocks moved moderately higher over the course of the trading session on Wednesday. With the upward move, the S&P 500 reached a new record closing high.

The major averages pulled back off their highs going into the close but remained in positive territory. The Dow climbed 115.27 points or 0.4 percent to 27,186.69, the Nasdaq rose 27.12 points or 0.3 percent to 8,303.98 and the S&P 500 ended the day up 9.88 points or 0.3 percent at 3,046.77.

Stocks showed a lack of direction for most of the day until the Fed announced its decision to lower interest rates for the third straight meeting.

The Fed announced its widely expected decision to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 percent.

The quarter point rate cut follows two matching moves at the Fed’s meetings in September and July, which marked the first rate cuts in over a decade.

Traders seemed unfazed by a change to the accompanying statement suggesting the central bank may put further monetary policy easing on hold.

The Fed’s accompanying statement removed a key line indicating the central bank would continue to “act as appropriate to sustain the expansion.”

The line was included in each of the Fed’s three previous statements and was seen as pointing toward a near-term rate cut.

The Fed said it would continue to monitor the implications of incoming information for the economic outlook as it assesses the appropriate path of the target range for the federal funds rate.

“It’s a small change, but suggests less willingness to continue cutting rates in future,” FHN Financial Chief Economist Chris Low said about removing the line.

Low added, “In other words, while the FOMC was previously in the midst of a mid-cycle series of rate cuts and assessing whether to end it, the new language suggests they are ready to end it, but alert for evidence it should continue.”

The Fed is scheduled to hold its next monetary policy meeting on December 10-11, with CME Group’s FedWatch tool currently indicating a 79.1 percent chance the central bank will leave rates unchanged.

In his post-meeting press conference, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the current stance of monetary policy is “likely to remain appropriate” as long as “the outlook remains broadly in keeping with our expectations.”

Powell also told reporters the Fed would need to see a “really significant move up in inflation that’s persistent” before the central bank would consider raising interest rates.

With the focus on the Fed, traders largely shrugged off the release of some upbeat U.S. economic data, including the Commerce Department’s first reading on third quarter GDP.

The Commerce Department report showed U.S. economic growth slowed much less than expected in the third quarter.

The report said real gross domestic product increased by 1.9 percent in the third quarter after climbing by 2.0 percent in the second quarter. Economists had expected GDP growth to slow to 1.7 percent.

Payroll processor ADP released a separate report showing U.S. private sector employment increased by slightly more than anticipated in the month of October.

ADP said private sector employment climbed by 125,000 jobs in October compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 120,000 jobs.

However, the report also showed private sector job growth in September was downwardly revised to 93,000 from the previously reported addition of 135,000 jobs.

“Job growth has throttled way back over the past year,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics. “If hiring weakens any further, unemployment will begin to rise.”

Gold stocks showed a strong move to the upside over the course of the session, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 1.5 percent. The strength among gold stocks came amid an increase by the price of the precious metal.

Notable strength also emerged among software and pharmaceutical stocks, with the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index and the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index both rising by 1.4 percent.

On the other hand, energy stocks moved sharply lower as the price of crude oil fell following the release of a report showing a much bigger than expected weekly jump in crude oil inventories.

Reflecting the weakness in the sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index plummeted by 4.4 percent, the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index plunged by 3.7 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index tumbled by 2.2 percent.

Considerable weakness also remained visible among transportation stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent slump by the Dow Jones Transportation Average.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW) led the sector lower after the trucking company reported third quarter results that missed analyst estimates.

Economy

Four Securities Erase N51.17bn from NASD Exchange

Published

2 days 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 days 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 days 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.