Economy
Rising Middle East Tensions May Weigh on Wall Street

By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Tuesday, with stocks poised to add to the modest losses posted in the previous session. Concerns about rising tensions in the Middle East may weigh on the markets after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain severed diplomatic relations with Qatar.
The move by the three major Persian Gulf countries came amid accusations of Qatar meddling in their internal affairs and supporting terrorism.
Qatar’s Foreign Minister indicated Tuesday the country would like to give Kuwait’s Emir the ability to mediate and contain the crisis.
Responding to the developments in a post on Twitter, President Donald Trump said, “During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar – look!”
The news out of the Middle East may add to uncertainty ahead of key events later this week, including the U.K. election, the ECB meeting and former FBI Director James Comey’s congressional testimony.
Following the strength that was seen last week, stocks showed a lack of direction throughout the trading session on Monday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.
The major averages eventually ended the session modestly lower. The Dow slipped 22.25 points or 0.1 percent to 21,184.04, the Nasdaq dipped 10.11 points or 0.2 percent to 6,295.68 and the S&P 500 edged down 2.97 points or 0.1 percent to 2,436.10.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following recent strength.
The upward move seen over the course of the previous week lifted all three of the major averages to new record closing highs.
Traders may be looking ahead to highly anticipated congressional testimony by former FBI Director James Comey scheduled for Thursday.
Comey is expected to be questioned about his communications with President Donald Trump amid claims the president urged him to drop a federal investigation of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
On the U.S. economic front, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing a modest slowdown in the pace of growth in the service sector in the month of May.
The ISM said its non-manufacturing index edged down to 56.9 in May from 57.5 in April, although a reading above 50 indicates continued growth in the service sector. Economists had expected the index to dip to 57.0.
“Although the non-manufacturing sector’s growth rate dipped in May, the sector continues to reflect strength, buoyed by the strong rate of growth in the Employment Index,” said Anthony Nieves, Chair of the ISM Non-Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.
He added, “The majority of respondents’ comments continue to indicate optimism about business conditions and the overall economy.”
A separate report from the Commerce Department showed a modest drop in factory orders in April, while revised data from the Labor Department showed that labor productivity was unchanged in the first quarter.
Most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, contributing to the lackluster close by the broader markets.
Biotechnology stocks came under considerable selling pressure, however, with the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index sliding by 1.3 percent. The index gave back ground after moving sharply higher over the three previous sessions.
Railroad and housing stocks also saw some weakness on the day, while gold stocks moved to the upside over the course of the session.
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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