Economy
Strong Job Growth Dampens Hopes for Interest Rate Cut
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a lower opening on Friday as trading is set to resume following the Independence Day holiday on Thursday.
Stock futures came under pressure following the release of a Labor Department showing a substantial reacceleration in the pace of U.S. job growth in the month of June.
The report said employment surged up by 224,000 jobs in June after edging up by a downwardly revised 72,000 jobs in May. Economists had expected employment to increase by about 160,000 jobs.
While the data points to a rebound in the labor market following the weakness seen in May, the report has dampened investor hopes for a near-term interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
Stocks showed a strong move to the upside over the course of a holiday-shortened trading session on Wednesday. With the upward move, the major averages added to the modest gains posted on Tuesday to reach new record closing highs.
The major averages ended the session at their best levels of the day. The Dow jumped 179.32 points or 0.7 percent to 8,170.23, the Nasdaq advanced 61.14 points or 0.8 percent to 8,170.23 and the S&P 500 climbed 22.81 points or 0.8 percent to 2,995.82.
The strength on Wall Street came as a batch of largely disappointing U.S. economic data reinforced expectations for a near-term interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
Initial buying interest was generated in reaction to a report from payroll processor ADP showing private sector job growth reaccelerated in the month of June but still came in below economist estimates.
ADP said private sector employment climbed by 102,000 jobs in June after rising by an upwardly revised 41,000 jobs in May.
Economists had expected employment to increase by about 140,000 jobs compared to the addition of 27,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
“Even with the US-China trade talks back on track (for now at least) the evidence of a slowdown in employment growth should still be enough to persuade the Fed to cut rates in either July or September,” said Paul Ashworth, Chief U.S. Economist at Capital Economics.
CME Group’s FedWatch tool shows an interest rate cut of at least 25 basis points at the Fed’s July meeting is priced into the markets, although Ashworth said expectations of a 50 basis point cut “seem misplaced.”
Stocks saw further upside after a report from the Institute for Supply showing a notable slowdown in the pace of service sector growth added to the optimism about a rate cut.
The ISM said its non-manufacturing index dropped to 55.1 in June from 56.9 in May, hitting its lowest level since a matching reading in July of 2017.
While a reading above 50 still indicates growth in service sector activity, economists had expected the index to show a more modest decrease to 55.9.
A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed the U.S. trade deficit widened by more than anticipated in the month of May, as the value of imports jumped by much more than the value of exports.
The Commerce Department said the trade deficit widened to $55.5 billion in May from a revised $51.2 billion in April. Economists had expected the trade deficit to widen to $54.0 billion.
The wider trade deficit came as the value of imports surged up by 3.3 percent to $266.2 billion compared to a 2.0 percent jump in the value of exports to $210.6 billion.
Andrew Hunter, Senior U.S. Economist at Capital Economics, said the wider than expected deficit suggests net trade was a “slightly bigger drag on second-quarter GDP growth than we had previously anticipated.”
“Despite the recent ceasefire agreed between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, we still think it is slightly more likely than not that the trade dispute with China will ultimately escalate further,” Hunter said.
He added, “The upshot is that net trade is likely to remain a modest drag on growth over the second half of this year, which we expect to compound a sharp slowdown in domestic demand growth.”
Interest rate-sensitive commercial real estate stocks turned in some of the market’s best performances on the day, driving the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index up by 1.3 percent.
Significant strength was also visible among housing stocks, which would also benefit from lower interest rates. The Philadelphia Housing Sector Index climbed 1.1 percent to its best closing level in over a year.
Transportation, software and telecom stocks also saw notable strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.
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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