Economy

Trade, Geopolitical Concerns May Lead to Pullback on Wall Street

Published

8 years ago

24/05/2018

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Thursday following the rebound seen over the course of the previous session.

Lingering trade concerns may weigh on the markets following President Donald Trump?s recent comments downplaying expectations for a trade deal with China.

Potentially adding to the trade concerns, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has initiated an investigation into whether imports of automobiles and parts threaten to impair U.S. national security.

?There is evidence suggesting that, for decades, imports from abroad have eroded our domestic auto industry,? Ross said in a statement.

He added, ?The Department of Commerce will conduct a thorough, fair, and transparent investigation into whether such imports are weakening our internal economy and may impair the national security.?

Continued uncertainty about the planned meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may also generate some selling pressure.

North Korean vice foreign minister Choe Son-hui raised the possibility of canceling the historic summit following what she called ?ignorant and stupid? comments by Vice President Mike Pence.

?Whether the U.S. will meet us at a meeting room or encounter us at nuclear-to-nuclear showdown is entirely dependent upon the decision and behavior of the United States,? Choe said, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

She added, ?In case the U.S. offends against our goodwill and clings to unlawful and outrageous acts, I will put forward a suggestion to our supreme leadership for reconsidering the DPRK-U.S. summit.?

Stocks showed a notable turnaround over the course of the trading day on Wednesday after coming under pressure early in the session. The major averages climbed into positive territory following the release of the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting.

The major averages ended the day just off their highs of the session. The Dow edged up 52.40 points or 0.2 percent to 24,886.81, the Nasdaq climbed 47.50 points or 0.6 percent to 7,425.96 and the S&P 500 rose 8.85 points or 0.3 percent to 2,733.29.

The upward move seen late in the session came as the minutes of the Fed’s monetary policy meeting earlier this month were seen as dovish.

The minutes showed some uncertainty about the outlook for inflation, with some questioning whether the rate of inflation will be sustained at the Fed’s 2 percent target.

Others noted a temporary period of inflation modestly above 2 percent would be consistent with the Fed’s symmetric inflation objective.

“While the economy is generally viewed as being strong by just about everyone, there remains uncertainty about inflation and therefore the path of interest rates,” said Joel L. Naroff, President and Chief Economist at Naroff Economic Advisors.

“The inflation hawks on the Fed seem to be outnumbered, at least right now, by the doves,” he added. “That does not mean there will not be a rate hike in June.”

The minutes said participants generally agreed with the assessment that continuing to raise interest rates gradually would likely be appropriate if the economy evolves about as expected.

“So, expect a hike in June,” Naroff said. “And if inflation continues to accelerate as the economy grows more strongly, additional increases this year are likely.”

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing a pullback in new home sales in the month of April.

The report said new home sales fell by 1.5 percent to an annual rate of 662,000 in April after jumping by 2 percent to a revised rate of 672,000 in March.

Economists had expected new home sales to drop to a rate of 679,000 from the 694,000 originally reported for the previous month.

The weakness seen earlier in the session partly reflected a negative reaction to earnings news from retail giant Target (TGT).

Shares of Target slumped by 5.7 percent after the company reported first quarter results that missed analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

Gold stocks moved notably higher over the course of the session, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 1.5 percent. The index rebounded after ending the previous session at its lowest closing level in well over a month.

The strength among gold stocks came as the price of the precious metal turned positive in electronic trading.

Considerable strength also emerged among retail stocks, as reflected by the 1.2 percent gain posted by the Dow Jones Retail Index. With the gain, the index reached its best closing level in well over three months.

Tobacco, real estate, and utilities stocks also moved to the upside, while significant weakness remained visible among steel and telecom stocks.

Economy

Customs Street Chalks up 1.08% on Renewed Buying Pressure

Published

16 minutes ago

06/12/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

A 1.08 per cent growth was further printed by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday on improved appetite for Nigerian stocks.

Data showed that the insurance sector lost 0.61 per cent yesterday due to profit-taking as the energy space gave up 0.08 per cent, while the commodity counter closed flat.

However, the industrial goods landscape appreciated by 2.06 per cent, the banking index improved by 1.31 per cent, and the consumer goods sector expanded by 0.83 per cent.

At the close of business on Customs Street, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,563.92 points to 147,040.07 points from 145,476.15 points and the market capitalisation went up by N996 billion to N93.722 trillion from N92.726 trillion.

UAC Nigeria led the advancers’ log yesterday after it grew by 10.00 per cent to N96.80, Transcorp Hotels jumped by 9.71 per cent to N172.80, Royal Exchange appreciated by 8.89 per cent to N1.96, Ikeja Hotel soared by 8.74 per cent to N31.10, and Veritas Kapital leapt by 8.07 per cent to N1.74.

On the flip side, Union Dicon declined by 10.00 per cent to N6.30, ABC Transport slipped by 9.88 per cent to N3.10, AXA Mansard depreciated by 7.19 per cent to N12.90, FTN Cocoa lost 4.62 per cent to trade at N4.75, and Guinea Insurance dropped 3.36 per cent to finish at N1.15.

A total of 38 stocks ended on the gainers’ table and 17 stocks finished on the losers’ table, representing a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.

Traders transacted 361.6 million equities for N14.8 billion in 21,051 deals yesterday versus the 1.9 billion equities worth N19.2 billion traded in 23,369 deals a day earlier, showing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 80.97 per cent, 22.92 per cent, and 14.20 per cent, respectively.

The busiest stock for the session was Zenith Bank with 59.5 million units worth N3.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 46.1 million units valued at N973.0 million, Fidelity Bank exchanged 29.4 million units for N560.4 million, FCMB transacted 27.9 million units worth N293.9 million, and Tantalizers sold 13.0 million units valued at N29.8 million.

Economy

Nipco, 11 Plc Crash OTC Securities Exchange by 4.76%

Published

1 hour ago

06/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Energy stocks influenced the 4.76 per cent loss recorded by the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Friday, December 5.

The culprits were the duo of 11 Plc and Nipco Plc,with the former shedding N32.17 to end at N291.83 per share compared with the previous day’s N324.00 per share, and the latter down by N21.00 to sell at N195.00 per unit versus the previous session’s N216.00 per unit.

Consequently, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) slumped by 170.16 points to 3,401.37 points from 3,571.53 points and the market capitalisation lost N101.81 billion to close at N2.035 billion from the N2.136 trillion quoted in the preceding session.

The OTC securities exchange suffered the decline yesterday despite the share prices of three companies closing green.

Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc was up by N1.80 to close at N39.80 per share compared with Thursday’s price of N38.00 per share, Air Liquide Plc appreciated by N1.09 to N11.99 per unit from N10.90 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc grew by 78 Kobo to N56.57 per share from N55.79 per share.

During the session, the volume of transactions rose by 6,885.3 per cent to 18.2 million units from 4.3 million units, the value of transactions ballooned by 10,301.7 per cent to N389.7 million from N347.2 million, but the number of deals declined by 29.7 per cent to 26 deals from 37 deals.

Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units valued at N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units worth N4.2 billion.

InfraCredit Plc also finished the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.2 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units worth N524.9 million.

Economy

Naira Depreciates to N1,450/$1 at Official Forex Market

Published

2 hours ago

06/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira depreciated further against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, December 5, as FX demand pressure mounts.

The Nigerian currency lost N2.60 or 0.18 per cent against the greenback to close at N1,450.43/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,447.83/$1.

Equally, the domestic currency declined against the Pound Sterling in the official forex market during the session by N4.48 to trade at N1,935.45/£1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,930.97/£1 and shrank against the Euro by 43 Kobo to end at N1,689.17/€1 versus the preceding session’s rate of N1,688.74/€1.

Similarly, the local currency performed badly against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX counter by N2 to close at N1,455/$1 versus Thursday’s N1,453/$1 but traded flat at the parallel market at N14.65/$1.

As the country gets into the festive period, pressure mounted on the local currency reflecting higher foreign payments and lower FX inflows.

However, there are expectations that the Nigerian currency will be stable, supported by interventions by to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the face of steady dollar Demand and inflows from Detty December festivities that will give the Naira a boost after it depreciated mildly last month.

Traders cited by Reuters expect that the Naira will trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450/$1 next week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.

As for the crypto market, it was down yesterday due to profit-taking associated with year-end trading. However, the December 1-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation by the University of Michigan fell to 4.1 per cent from 4.5 per cent previously and 4.5 per cent expected. The 5-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation fell to 3.2 per cent from 3.4 per cent previously and 3.4 per cent expected.

With the dearth of official economic data of late, these private surveys have taken on a new level of significance and the market banks of them to make decisions.

Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 5.7 per cent to $0.4142, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 5.1 per cent to $0.1394, Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 3.9 per cent to $3,039.75, Solana (SOL) declined by 3.8 per cent to $133.24, and Litecoin (LTC) fell by 3.7 per cent to $80.59.

Further, Bitcoin (BTC) went down by 2.6 per cent to sell at $89,683.72, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 2.2 per cent to $883.59, and Ripple (XRP) shrank by 2.1 per cent to $2.04, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.