Economy
Rising Tensions in Hong Kong May Lead to Pullback on Wall Street
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a lower opening on Friday, with stocks likely to move back to the downside after trending higher in recent sessions.
Rising tensions in Hong Kong may weigh on Wall Street amid concerns widespread protests could impact the ability of the U.S. and China to reach a phase on trade deal.
Traders may also look to take some profits after the upward trend see over the past several sessions lifted the major averages to new record highs.
However, the markets have recently shown a resistance to giving back much ground, with traders seemingly concerned about missing out on further upside.
Overall trading activity is likely to remain subdued, as some traders to the sidelines following the holiday on Thursday.
A lack of major U.S. economic news may also contribute to light trading activity along with the early close for the markets.
Extending the upward trend seen over the past few sessions, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. Buying interest was somewhat subdued, but the major averages still managed to reach new record closing highs.
The major averages all closed in positive territory, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 just off their highs of the session. The Dow rose 42.32 points or 0.2 percent to 28,164.00, the Nasdaq advanced 57.24 points or 0.7 percent to 8,705.18 and the S&P 500 climbed 13.11 points or 0.4 percent to 3,153.63.
The markets continued to benefit from optimism about a potential U.S.-China trade deal after President Donald Trump said trade talks are “going very well.”
“We’re in the final throes of a very important deal ? I guess you could say, one of the most important deals in trade ever,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.
The continued strength on Wall Street also came following the release of some upbeat U.S. economic data, including a Commerce Department report showing durable goods orders unexpectedly rebounded in the month of October.
The Commerce Department said durable goods orders climbed by 0.6 percent in October after plunging by a revised 1.4 percent in September.
Economists had expected durable goods orders to decrease by 0.8 percent compared to the 1.2 percent slump that had been reported for the previous month.
Separately, revised data released by the Commerce Department showed the U.S. economy grew by more than initially estimated in the third quarter.
The Commerce Department said real gross domestic product jumped by 2.1 percent in the third quarter compared to the previously estimated 1.9 percent increase. Economists had expected the pace of GDP growth to be unrevised.
The stronger than previous estimated growth reflected upward revisions to private inventory investment, non-residential fixed investment, and consumer spending.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors released a report unexpectedly showing a sharp pullback in U.S. pending home sales in the month of October.
NAR said its pending home sales index plunged by 1.7 percent to 106.7 in October after surging up by 1.4 percent to a revised 108.6 in September.
Economists had expected pending home sales to climb by 0.8 percent compared to the 1.5 percent jump originally reported for the previous month.
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.
The Commerce Department also released a separate report showing U.S. personal income came in nearly flat in the month of October, although personal spending rose in line with economist estimates.
Late in the trading day, the Federal Reserve released its Beige Book, which said U.S. economic activity expanded modestly from October through mid-November.
The Beige Book, a compilation of anecdotal evidence on economic conditions in the twelve Fed districts, noted economic growth continued at a similar pace to the prior reporting period.
Trading activity was relatively light, however, as some traders looked to get a head start on the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday.
Oil service stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading session, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 2 percent. The strength among oil service stocks came despite a decrease by the price of crude oil.
Significant strength was also visible among tobacco stocks, with the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index climbing by 1.2 percent to its best closing level in over two months.
Natural gas and biotechnology stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, while most of the other major sectors showed more modest moves.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude production under the collective Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC ) fell in May to its lowest level in at least 37 years as the blockade of Iran by the United States and disruptions in the Persian Gulf, continued to limit output.
According to a Bloomberg survey released on Friday, output from the organisation’s 11 current members, including Nigeria, dropped by 1.22 million barrels per day to 16.33 million barrels per day last month.
Iran accounted for more than half of the decline. The data excludes the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which departed the cartel last month after six decades of membership.
War between a US-Israeli alliance and Iran has reduced oil supplies from the Middle East, largely closing the Strait of Hormuz waterway. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE and Kuwait have been forced to cut crude production. Iranian shipments face additional pressure following a US blockade of its ports imposed in mid-April.
Iranian output fell by 710,000 barrels per day to a five-year low of 2.34 million barrels per day in May, the survey showed. Central Command reported that US forces have redirected 127 commercial vessels to enforce the blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports.
Kuwait recorded the second-largest decline last month, with production falling by 310,000 barrels per day to 490,000 barrels per day, less than one-fifth of pre-war levels. Saudi Arabia, the group’s leader, saw output decrease by 240,000 barrels per day to 6.57 million barrels per day.
The production reductions have not prevented OPEC and its allies from raising quotas over recent months, continuing a year-long process of restoring output halted several years ago.
This comes ahead of a meeting scheduled to be held on Sunday, June 7, where a sub-group of seven members is expected to increase targets by 188,000 barrels again in July. The session is one of four online meetings OPEC and its partners plan to hold that day.
Delegates indicated the alliance has plans for two additional monthly quota increases in August and September. UAE output rose by 300,000 barrels per day to 2.44 million barrels per day in May, according to the survey.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The 2025 third quarter Budget Implementation Report from the Budget Office of the Federation has shown that the federal government exceeded the funds allocation for repayment of debts for the first nine months of the fiscal year by about 18 per cent.
In a report by Punch, the sum of N10.74 trillion was budgeted for debt servicing between January and September 2025, but the government used N12.63 trillion for the purpose, N1.90 trillion or 17.65 per cent more than the allocation for the year.
The funds were spent on domestic debts, foreign debts and sinking fund by the central government in nine months.
Business Post reports that for the whole year, the amount approved by the National Assembly and signed by President Bola Tinubu for debt repayments was N14.31 trillion.
Looking at the nine-month figures, domestic debt service gulped N6.23 trillion, exceeding its N5.39 trillion provision, while foreign debt service was N6.30 trillion versus the budget provision of N5.06 trillion.
According to the report, the figures indicated that 67.2 per cent of the federal government’s retained revenue of N18.63 trillion was spent on debt service in the first nine months of 2025. When the sinking fund is included, debt-related payments consumed about 67.8 per cent of revenue.
It was also observed that aggregate federal government revenue underperformed the budget by N12.03 trillion or 39.24 per cent, as actual revenue of N18.63 trillion fell short of the N30.67 trillion projected for the first three quarters.
In the third quarter alone, the government generated N7.70 trillion versus the quarterly target of N10.22 trillion as a result of persistent oil revenue shortfalls, despite stronger non-oil collections.
The debt burden also crowded out capital spending, as total capital expenditure was N3.10 trillion in the first nine months compared with the N17.58 trillion budgeted for the period, indicating that actual debt-related payments were more than four times capital expenditure.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a loss of 1.13 per cent on Thursday, June 4, shrinking the market capitalisation by N30.03 billion to N2.630 trillion from N2.660 trillion on Wednesday.
Similarly, this brought down the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 50.19 points to 4,396.08 points from the 4,446.27 points recorded a day earlier.
The loss was influenced by the overpowering of the bulls by the bears, after the bourse closed with two price gainers and three price losers, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which slumped by N20.03 to sell at N190.38 per unit compared with midweek’s N210.41 per unit. Food Concepts Plc declined by 25 Kobo to trade at N2.50 per share versus the previous day’s N3.00 per share, and Acorn Petroleum Plc crumbled by 2 Kobo to end at N1.32 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1.34 per unit.
For the gainers, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc added N2.93 to close at N78.34 per share compared with the previous price of N75.41 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 80 Kobo to settle at N16.80 per unit versus N16.00 per unit.
There was a slip in the volume of transactions yesterday by 46.8 per cent to 280,714 units from 527,221 units, as the value of trades dropped 66.5 per cent to N21.8 million from the preceding session’s N64.2 million, and the number of deals fell by 8.7 per cent to 42 deals from 46 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the session as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 billion.
GNI Plc also finished the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
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