Economy

S&P 500 Nears New Record Intraday High

Published

6 years ago

28/10/2019

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a higher opening on Monday, with the S&P 500 poised to reach a new record intraday high.

The markets may continue to benefit from optimism about U.S.-China trade talks as well as news that the European Union has granted the U.K.?s request for a Brexit deadline extension.

The move by the EU, which delays Brexit until January 31st, was widely expected but still removes the risk of a damaging no-deal split on Thursday.

Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the Federal Reserve?s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

CME Group?s FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 94.1 percent chance that the Fed will cut interest rates by another 25 basis points.

Some closely watched economic data is also scheduled to be released later this week, including the Labor Department?s monthly jobs report on Friday.

Traders are also likely to keep an eye on reports on third quarter GDP, personal income and spending and manufacturing activity.

Stocks recovered from an initial move to the downside and moved mostly higher over the course of the trading session on Friday. With the upward move, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached their best closing levels in three months.

The major averages pulled back off their highs of the session but remained firmly positive. The Dow climbed 152.53 points or 0.6 percent to 26,958.06, the Nasdaq advanced 57.32 points or 0.7 percent to 8,243.12 and the S&P 500 rose 12.26 points or 0.4 percent to 3,022.55.

For the week, the tech-heavy Nasdaq surged up by 1.9 percent, the S&P 500 jumped by 1.2 percent and the Dow climbed by 0.7 percent.

The strength on Wall Street came after a statement from the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said the U.S. and China have made progress toward finalizing a phase one trade deal.

The statement was released by the USTR following a phone call between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He.

“They made headway on specific issues and the two sides are close to finalizing some sections of the agreement,” the USTR said. “Discussions will go on continuously at the deputy level, and the principals will have another call in the near future.”

The upbeat comments about the trade talks added to the positive sentiment seen in reaction to the latest batch of earnings.

Shares of Intel (INTC) moved sharply higher after the semiconductor giant released its third quarter results, spiking by 8.1 percent to a six-month high.

Intel reported better than expected quarterly results, raised its full-year revenue guidance, and added $20 billion to its stock repurchase program.

Credit card giant Visa (V) also posted a notable gain after reporting third quarter results that beat estimates and increasing its quarterly dividend by 20 percent.

Meanwhile, shares of Amazon (AMZN) climbed well off their lows of the session but still ended the session in the red.

The drop by Amazon came after the online retail giant reported weaker than expected third quarter earnings and provided a disappointing forecast for holiday sales.

On the U.S. economic front, revised data released by the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment improved by slightly less than initially estimated in the month of October.

The report said the consumer sentiment index for October was downwardly revised to 95.5 from the preliminary reading of 96.0. Economists had expected the index to be unrevised.

Despite the downward revision, the consumer sentiment index for October was still up from the final September reading of 93.2.

“Sentiment was insignificantly below the mid month level, with the small loss spread over most components of the Index,” said Surveys of Consumers chief economist Richard Curtin.

He added, “The overall level of consumer confidence has remained quite favorable and largely unchanged during the past few years.”

Reflecting the positive reaction to Intel’s earnings, semiconductor stocks turned in some of the market’s best performances on the day.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index subsequently surged up by 2.1 percent, ending the session at a new record closing high.

Significant strength was also visible among transportation stocks, as reflected by the 1.7 percent gain posted by the Dow Jones Transportation Average.

Steel stocks also moved notably higher amid optimism about a U.S.-China trade deal, with the NYSE Arca Steel Index climbing by 1.6 percent to its best closing level in a month.

Energy, computer hardware and banking stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, while interest rate-sensitive utilities and commercial real estate stocks bucked the uptrend.

Economy

NGX RegCo Revokes Trading Licence of Monument Securities

Published

6 hours ago

14/01/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The trading licence of Monument Securities and Finance Limited has been revoked by the regulatory arm of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc.

Known as NGX Regulations Limited (NGX Regco), the regulator said it took back the operating licence of the organisation after it shut down its operations.

The revocation of the licence was approved by Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC) at its meeting held on September 24, 2025, a notice from the signed by the Head of Market Regulations at the agency, Chinedu Akamaka, said.

“This is to formally notify all trading license holders that the board of NGX Regulation Limited (NGX RegCo) has approved the decision of the Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC)” in respect of Monument Securities and Finance Limited, a part of the disclosure stated.

Monument Securities and Finance Limited was earlier licensed to assist clients with the trading of stocks in the Nigerian capital market.

However, with the latest development, the firm is no longer authorised to perform this function.

Economy

NEITI Advocates Fiscal Discipline, Transparency as FG, States, LGs Get N6trn in Three Months

Published

6 hours ago

14/01/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has called for fiscal discipline and transparency as data showed that federal government, states, and local governments shared a whopping N6 trillion Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements in the third quarter of last year.

In its analysis of the FAAC Q3 2025 allocation, the body revealed that the federal government received N2.19 trillion, states received N1.97 trillion, and local governments received N1.45 trillion.

According to a statement by the Director of Communication and Stakeholders Management at NEITI, Mrs Obiageli Onuorah, the allocation indicated a historic rise in federation account receipts and distributions, explaining that year-on-year quarterly FAAC allocations in 2025 grew by 55.6 per cent compared with Q3 of 2024 while it more than doubling allocations over two years.

The report contained in the agency’s Quarterly Review noted that the N6 trillion included 13 per cent payments to derivative states. It also showed that statutory revenues accounted for 62 per cent of shared receipts, while Value Added Tax (VAT) was 34 per cent, and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) and augmentation from non-oil excess revenue each accounted for 2 per cent, respectively.

The distribution to the 36 states comprised revenues from statutory sources, VAT, EMTL, and ecological funds. States also received additional N100 billion as augmentation from the non-oil excess revenue account.

The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr Sarkin Adar, called on the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) FAAC, the National Economic Council (NEC), the National Assembly, and state governments to act on the recommendations to strengthen transparency, accountability, and long-term fiscal sustainability.

“Though the Quarter 3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, NEITI reiterates that the data presents an opportunity to the government to institutionalise prudent fiscal practices that will protect the gains that have been recorded so far in growing revenue and reduce vulnerability to commodity shocks.

“The Q3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, but windfalls must be managed with discipline. Greater transparency, realistic budgeting, and stronger stabilisation mechanisms will ensure these resources deliver durable benefits for all Nigerians,” Mr Adar said.

NEITI urged the government at all levels to ensure the growth of Nigeria’s sovereign wealth and stabilisation capacity, by committing to regular transfers to the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund and other related stabilisation mechanisms in line with the fiscal responsibility frameworks.

It further advised governments at all levels to adopt realistic budget benchmarks by setting more conservative and achievable crude oil production and price assumptions in the budget to reduce implementation gaps, deficit, and debt metrics.

This, it said, is in addition to accelerating revenue diversification by prioritising reforms that would attract investments into the mining sector, expedite legislation to modernise the Mineral and Mining Act, support reforms in the downstream petroleum sector, as well as the full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to expand domestic refining and value addition.

Economy

World Bank Upwardly Reviews Nigeria’s 2026 Growth Forecast to 4.4%

Published

7 hours ago

14/01/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

Nigeria has been projected to record an economic growth rate of 4.4 per cent in 2026 by the World Bank Group, higher than the 3.7 per cent earlier predicted in June 2025.

In its 2026 Global Economic Prospects report released on Tuesday, the global lender also said the growth for next year for Nigeria is 4.4 per cent rather than the 3.8 per cent earlier projected.

As for the sub-Saharan African region, the economy is forecast to move up to 4.3 per cent this year and 4.5 per cent next year.

It stressed that growth in developing economies should slow to 4 per cent from 4.2 per cent in 2025 before rising to 4.1 per cent in 2027 as trade tensions ease, commodity prices stabilise, financial conditions improve, and investment flows strengthen.

In the report, it also noted that growth is expected to jump in low-income countries by 5.6 per cent due to stronger domestic demand, recovering exports, and moderating inflation.

As for the world economy, the bank said it is now 2.6 per cent and not 2.4 per cent due to growing resilience despite persistent trade tensions and policy uncertainty.

“The resilience reflects better-than-expected growth — especially in the United States, which accounts for about two-thirds of the upward revision to the forecast in 2026,” a part of the report stated.

“But economic dynamism and resilience cannot diverge for long without fracturing public finance and credit markets,” it noted.

World Bank also said, “Over the coming years, the world economy is set to grow slower than it did in the troubled 1990s — while carrying record levels of public and private debt.

“To avert stagnation and joblessness, governments in emerging and advanced economies must aggressively liberalise private investment and trade, rein in public consumption, and invest in new technologies and education.”