Economy
Trade Concerns May Continue to Weigh on US Stocks
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Thursday, with stocks likely to extend the pullback seen over the course of the previous session.
The downward momentum on Wall Street may partly reflect concerns about the global economic impact on the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and other major economies.
Negative sentiment may also be generated in reaction to a Commerce Department report showing weaker than previously estimated U.S. economic growth in the first quarter.
After failing to sustain an early move to the upside, stocks turned lower over the course of the trading session on Wednesday. The major averages all pulled back off their best levels of the day and into negative territory.
The major averages ended the session just off their worst levels of the day. The Dow fell 165.52 points or 0.7 percent to 24,117.59, the Nasdaq plunged 116.54 points or 1.5 percent to 7,445.08 and the S&P 500 slid 23.43 points or 0.9 percent to 2,699.63.
Stocks initially benefited from news that President Donald Trump’s plan to crack down on Chinese investments in the U.S. is less harsh than feared.
Administration officials told reporters Trump wants to strengthen the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to prevent foreign companies from violating intellectual-property rights of American companies.
Trump expressed support for legislation that would expand CFIUS’ authority in a White House statement released Wednesday.
The president said the bill known as the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act would enhance the administration’s ability to protect the U.S. from new and evolving threats posed by foreign investment.
Trump argued the legislation would still sustain the strong, open investment environment to which the country is committed and which benefits the U.S. economy.
Reports earlier this week suggested Trump intended to use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to limit Chinese investment in the U.S.
However, technology stocks came under pressure over the course of the session, contributing to the steep drop by the Nasdaq.
In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing a smaller than expected decrease in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of May.
The Commerce Department said durable goods orders fell by 0.6 percent in May after tumbling by a revised 1.0 percent in April.
Economists had expected durable goods orders to drop by 1.0 percent compared to the 1.6 percent slump that had been reported for the previous month.
Excluding orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders dipped by 0.3 percent in May after spiking by 1.9 percent in April. Ex-transportation orders had been expected to rise by 0.5 percent.
Meanwhile, a separate report from the National Association of Realtors showed an unexpected decrease in pending home sales in May.
NAR said its pending home sales index fell by 0.5 percent to 105.9 in May after slumping by 1.3 percent to 106.4 in April. Economists had expected pending home sales to climb by 0.5 percent.
Biotechnology stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading session, dragging the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index down by 2.8 percent. With the drop, the index fell to its lowest closing level in over a month.
Substantial weakness also emerged among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 2.5 percent loss posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The index also slid to its worst closing level in well over a month.
Financial, steel, gold and computer hardware stocks also came under pressure over the course of the session, contributing to the pullback by the broader markets.
On the other hand, significant strength remained visible among energy stocks, which moved higher along with the price of crude oil.
Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index surged up by 2.9 percent, while the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index and the NYSE Arca Oil Index both climbed by 1.1 percent.
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market firmed up by 1.13 per cent on Friday as appetite for Nigerian stocks remained strong.
Investors reacted well to the 2026 budget presentation of President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly yesterday, especially because of the more realistic crude oil benchmark of $64 per barrel compared with the ambitious $75 per barrel for 2025. This year, prices have been between $60 and $65 per barrel.
Business Post observed profit-taking in the commodity and energy sectors as they respectively shed 0.14 per cent and 0.03 per cent.
But, bargain-hunting in the others sustained the positive run, with the consumer goods index up by 3.82 per cent.
Further, the industrial goods space appreciated by 1.46 per cent, the banking counter improved by 0.08 per cent, and the insurance industry gained 0.04 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,694.33 points to 152,057.38 points from 150,363.05 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N1.080 trillion to finish at N96.937 trillion compared with Thursday’s closing value of N95.857 trillion.
A total of 34 shares ended on the advancers’ chart, while 24 were on the laggards’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
Austin Laz gained 10.00 per cent to close at N2.42, Union Dicon also jumped 10.00 per cent to N6.60, Tantalizers increased by 9.80 per cent to N2.69, Aluminium Extrusion improved by 9.78 per cent to N12.35, and Champion Breweries grew by 9.71 per cent to N16.95.
Conversely, Sovereign Trust Insurance dipped by 7.42 per cent to N3.87, Royal Exchange lost 6.84 per cent to trade at N1.77, Omatek slipped by 6.84 per cent to N1.09, Eunisell depreciated by 5.88 per cent to N80.00, and Eterna dropped 5.63 per cent to close at N28.50.
Yesterday, traders transacted 1.5 billion units worth N21.8 billion in 25,667 deals compared with the 839.8 million units sold for N32.8 billion in 23,211 deals in the preceding session, showing a surge in the trading volume by 76.61 per cent, an uptick in the number of deals by 10.58 per cent, and a shrink in the trading value by 33.54 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three stocks stretched the bearish run of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.21 per cent on Friday, December 19, with the market capitalisation giving up N26.01 billion to close at N2.121 billion compared with the N2.147 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropping 43.47 points to 3,546.41 points from 3,589.88 points.
The trio of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, and NASD Plc overpowered the gains printed by four other securities.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N6.00 to sell at N54.00 per unit versus N60.00 per unit, NASD Plc shrank by N3.50 to N58.50 per share from N55.00 per share, and CSCS Plc depleted by N2.91 to N33.87 per unit from N36.78 per unit.
On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc gained N1.01 to close at N13.00 per share versus N11.99 per share, Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 70 Kobo to N7.68 per unit from N6.98 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc added 39 Kobo to sell at N5.50 per share versus N5.11 per share, and IPWA Plc rose by 8 Kobo to 85 Kobo per unit from 77 Kobo per unit.
During the trading day, market participants traded 1.9 million securities versus the previous day’s 30.5 million securities showing a decline of 49.3 per cent. The value of trades went down by 64.3 per cent to N80.3 million from N225.1 million, but the number of deals jumped by 32.1 per cent to 37 deals from 28 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc finished the session as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units traded for N4.9 billion.
The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was still InfraCredit Plc with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira at the two major foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday as it suffered a heavy loss against the United States Dollar at the close of transactions.
In the black market segment, the Naira weakened against its American counterpart yesterday by N10 to quote at N1,485/$1, in contrast to the N1,475/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the GTBank forex counter, it depreciated by N2 to settle at N1,467/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,465/$1.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) window, which is also the official market, the nation’s legal tender crashed against the greenback by N6.65 or 0.46 per cent to close at N1,464.49/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,457.84/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency tumbled against the Euro in the spot market by N2.25 to sell for N1,714.63/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,712.38/€1, but appreciated against the Pound Sterling by 73 Kobo to finish at N1,957.30/£1 compared with the N1,958.03/£1 it was traded in the preceding session.
The market continues to face seasonal pressure even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is still conducting FX intervention sales, which have significantly reduced but not remove pressure from the Naira. Also, there seems to be reduced supply from exporters, foreign portfolio investors and non-bank corporate inflows.
President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented the government’s N58.47 trillion budget plan aimed at consolidating economic reforms and boosting growth.
The budget is based on a projected crude oil price of $64.85 a barrel and includes a target oil output of 1.84 million barrels a day. It also projects an exchange rate of N1,400 to the Dollar.
President Tinubu said inflation had plunged to an annual rate of 14.45 per cent in November from 24.23 per cent in March, while foreign reserves had surged to a seven-year high of $47 billion.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was dominated by the bulls but it continues to face increased pressure after million in liquidations in previous session over accelerating declines, with Dogecoin (DOGE) recovering 4.2 per cent to trade at $0.1309.
Further, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $1.90, Cardano (ADA) rose by 3.5 per cent to $0.3728, Solana (SOL) jumped by 3.4 per cent to $126.23, Ethereum (ETH) climbed by 2.9 per cent to $2,982.42, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 2.0 per cent to sell for $853.06, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 1.7 per cent to $88,281.21, and Litecoin (LTC) soared by 1.2 per cent to $76.50, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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