Economy
Stocks May Benefit From Continued Drop In Treasury Yields
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Friday following the mixed performance seen in the previous session.
A continued drop by treasury yields may generate early buying interest on Wall Street, with the ten-year yield pulling back further off the four-year closing high set on Wednesday.
Trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as a lack of major U.S. economic data is likely to keep some traders on the sidelines.
Remarks by several Federal Reserve officials may impact trading amid lingering concerns about the outlook for interest rates.
After seeing strength for much of the session, stocks turned mixed in afternoon trading on Thursday. The Dow and the S&P 500 managed to end the day in positive territory, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged modestly lower.
While the Nasdaq dipped 8.14 points or 0.1 percent to 7,210.09, the Dow climbed 164.70 points or 0.7 percent to 24,962.48 and the S&P 500 inched up 2.63 points or 0.1 percent at 2,703.96.
The strength seen in morning trading came amid a rebound by treasuries, which came under pressure following the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting on Wednesday.
The yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is pulling back off the four-year closing high set in the previous session.
On the U.S. economic front, a report released by the Labor Department unexpectedly showed a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended February 17th.
The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 222,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 229,000.
The drop surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to come in unchanged compared to the 230,000 originally reported for the previous month.
A separate report from the Conference Board showed a bigger than expected increase by its index of leading economic indicators in the month of January.
The Conference Board said its leading economic index jumped by 1.0 percent in January after climbing by 0.6 percent in December. Economists had been expecting another 0.6 percent increase.
“While the recent stock market volatility will not be reflected in the U.S. LEI until next month, consumers’ and business’ outlook on the economy had been improving for several months and should not be greatly impacted,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, Director of Business Cycles and Growth Research at the Conference Board.
He added, “The leading indicators reflect an economy with widespread strengths coming from financial conditions, manufacturing, residential construction, and labor markets.”
Gold stocks showed a significant move to the downside on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 1.6 percent. The weakness in the sector came despite a modest increase by the price of gold.
Considerable weakness also emerged among banking stocks, as reflected by the 1.4 percent drop by the KBW Bank Index.
Tobacco and telecom stocks also saw notable weakness, while energy stocks moved sharply higher amid an increase by the price of crude oil.
Crude oil for April delivery jumped $1.09 to $62.77 a barrel following the release of a report showing an unexpectedly weekly drop in crude oil inventories.
Economy
NGX Group’s 65th Annual General Meeting Holds April 29
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The 65th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc has been fixed for Wednesday, April 29, 2026, at 11:00 am at its corporate head office on 2–4 Customs Street, Lagos.
Business Post gathered that the meeting would be streamed live on the company’s website and social media platforms to enable broader participation by shareholders and stakeholders unable to attend physically.
As part of a special business, shareholders will consider a proposed bonus issue of one new ordinary share for every three existing shares held as at the close of business on April 10, 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.
The proposal also includes an increase in the organisation’s share capital from N1,102,309,954 to N1,469,746,605, to accommodate the bonus shares and amendments to the Memorandum of Association to reflect the new capital structure.
Also at the gathering, shareholders will consider and, if deemed fit, approve the company’s audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025, alongside the reports of the directors, auditors, board evaluation consultants, and audit committee.
The meeting will also deliberate on the declaration of a final dividend and the re-election of three non-executive directors retiring by rotation, who are Mr Umaru Kwairanga, Mrs Ojinika Olaghere, and Dr Okechukwu Itanyi.
Other ordinary business items on the agenda include authorising the board to fix the remuneration of the external auditors, determining the remuneration of managers, and electing members of the statutory audit committee.
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.
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