Economy
Trade Talk Progress Sparks Renewed Buying Interest
by investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Thursday, with stocks likely to move to the upside after showing a lack of direction over the two previous sessions.
Stocks are likely to resume their recent advance after a spokesman for the Chinese Commerce Ministry said the U.S. and China have agreed to lift existing tariffs in phases.
?The trade war started with tariffs and should end with the cancellation of tariffs,? said ministry spokesman Gao Feng, who noted phase one of a trade deal must include both countries simultaneously canceling tariffs on each other?s goods.
The U.S. has widely been expected to scrap tariffs on about $156 billion worth of Chinese imports currently set to take effect on December 15th as part of phase one.
?Both sides have agreed to cancel additional tariffs in different phases, as both sides make progress in their negotiations,? Gao added without providing a timetable.
Stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, extending the lackluster performance seen on Tuesday. The major averages once again spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.
Eventually, the major averages ended the session mixed. While the S&P 500 inched up 2.16 points or 0.1 percent to 3,076.78, the Dow edged down 0.07 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 27,492.56 and the Nasdaq dipped 24.05 points or 0.3 percent to 8,410.63.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves amid some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets after the recent run to record highs.
Optimism about a potential U.S.-China trade deal contributed to the strength on Wall Street, but traders now seem to be looking for more concrete developments.
Stocks moved to the downside after a report from Reuters said a meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could be delayed until December, although selling pressure waned shortly afterward.
A senior Trump administration official told Reuters discussions continue over terms of phase one of the trade deal and a venue for a meeting between Trump and Xi.
Sites in Europe and Asia have been suggested for the meeting, with Sweden and Switzerland among the possibilities, while Trump’s suggestion of Iowa appears to have been ruled out, the official said.
The official said China’s latest push for more tariff rollbacks was not expected to derail progress toward an interim deal but noted that it was still possible an agreement would not be reached.
On the U.S. economic front, preliminary data released by the Labor Department showed labor productivity in the U.S. unexpectedly edged lower in the third quarter.
The report said labor productivity dipped by 0.3 percent in the third quarter after spiking by an upwardly revised 2.5 percent in the second quarter.
The drop came as a surprise to economists, who had expected productivity to climb by 0.9 percent compared to the 2.3 percent jump originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said unit labor costs soared by 3.6 percent in the third quarter after surging up by a downwardly revised 2.4 percent in the second quarter.
Economists had expected unit labor costs to jump by 2.2 percent compared to the 2.6 percent spike originally reported for the previous month.
Most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, although energy stocks saw substantial weakness amid a significant pullback by the price of crude oil.
Reflecting the weakness in the energy sector, the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index plunged by 3.1 percent, while the Philadelphia Oil Service Index and the NYSE Arca Oil Index tumbled by 2.9 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively.
Telecom stocks also saw considerable weakness on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index down by 1.8 percent. The index ended the session at its lowest closing level in ten months.
On the other hand, gold stocks showed a strong move to the upside, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surging up by 1.6 percent. The strength among gold stocks came amid a rebound by the price of the precious metal.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Senate has passed a bill to repeal and re-enact the law establishing the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), paving the way for the regulatory agency to be renamed the Insurance Regulatory Commission (IRC).
The legislation, titled the Insurance Regulatory Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2026, was passed after the Senate considered and adopted the report of its committee on banking, insurance and other financial institutions.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr Adetokunbo Abiru, the senator representing Lagos East, who presented the report, stated that the proposed legislation was necessary because the existing National Insurance Commission Act of 1997 had become outdated and no longer reflected the realities of Nigeria’s evolving insurance industry or global regulatory standards.
According to the Senate, the decision to change the Commission’s name was informed by the need to eliminate confusion associated with the existing designation and to better reflect the institution’s regulatory mandate within Nigeria’s insurance industry.
The bill also provides legal protection for the commission and its officers against adverse claims arising from the lawful execution of their statutory duties.
However, he noted that the commission’s enabling law had become obsolete, exposing significant regulatory gaps that required urgent legislative intervention.
‘The current National Insurance Commission Act 1997 is outdated and does not adequately address the emerging economic growth, needs and development of the insurance business,” the lawmaker said.
He explained that the new legislation seeks to strengthen the independence of the commission by empowering it to make regulatory decisions without undue influence in the country’s insurance sector.
According to him, the bill also enhances the commission’s authority to exchange information and collaborate with domestic and international regulatory bodies, issue regulations, guidelines, standards and directives on insurance-related matters, and intervene more effectively in financially distressed insurance companies to protect policyholders and preserve financial stability.
This marks yet another move to strengthen the country’s insurance sector following the enactment of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) of 2025 and the industry-wide recapitalisation exercise, which will wrap up by July 31.
By Adedapo Adesanya
About 143 companies that successfully passed the technical and prequalification stages of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) 2025 Licensing Round will, today, compete for 50 oil and gas blocks at the commercial bid conference in Abuja, the final stage in the allocation process for the assets.
The commission said only the prequalified companies have been invited to attend the event, which will hold at the Conference Centre of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, stressing that participation is strictly by invitation.
The commercial bid conference will determine the successful bidders for oil and gas assets located across Nigeria’s producing and frontier basins.
The 50 blocks comprise 16 onshore blocks and 18 shallow water blocks in the Niger Delta, one deep offshore block, three onshore blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin, and four in the Benue Trough.
According to the commission, the winning bids will be determined through a transparent evaluation process based on clearly defined commercial parameters. These include the signature bonus offered by bidders, the proposed work programme commitment and the level of performance security provided. The final selection will be based on a weighted technical and commercial score.
The licensing round is being conducted under the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which requires a transparent and competitive process for the award of petroleum assets.
NUPRC had announced the commencement of the 2025 Licensing Round on November 11, 2025, before opening the online bid portal on December 1, 2025, to enable interested companies to register and participate in the exercise.
To ensure prospective investors fully understood the requirements, the commission organised a pre-bid conference on January 14, 2026, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos. The event provided detailed explanations on the licensing guidelines and bidding procedures to registered participants and other stakeholders.
Registration and submission of prequalification documents closed on February 27, 2026, while the prequalification evaluation was completed on March 16, 2026.
NUPRC disclosed that 286 companies initially submitted applications for prequalification.
Following the evaluation process, 196 companies were cleared to participate in the technical and commercial bid stages.
The prequalified 143 companies eventually submitted a total of 200 bids for the available oil and gas blocks. These companies are now set to compete at the commercial bid conference, where the financial offers will be opened and evaluated to determine the eventual winners.
The licensing round is expected to attract fresh investment into Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector, boost exploration activities across both producing and frontier basins, increase crude oil and gas reserves, and support the country’s drive to grow production and government revenue.
It also underscores the regulator’s commitment to implementing a transparent, competitive and investor-friendly licensing regime under the Petroleum Industry Act.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has retained all key monetary policy parameters following the conclusion of its two-day meeting on July 21, 2026, on Tuesday, maintaining its tight monetary policy stance to curb inflation and support macroeconomic stability.
According to the Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, who chaired the committee, the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which serves as the benchmark interest rate, remains at 26.50 per cent. The MPC also retained the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +50 basis points and -450 basis points.
In addition, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks was left unchanged at 45.00 per cent, while the CRR for merchant banks remains at 16.00 per cent. The committee also retained the CRR on non-Treasury Single Account (Non-TSA) public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent, with the liquidity ratio at 30.00 per cent.
The decision reflects the apex bank’s continued commitment to containing inflationary pressures through a restrictive monetary policy while safeguarding the resilience of Nigeria’s financial system amid ongoing macroeconomic adjustments.
By keeping all policy tools unchanged, the MPC signalled its intention to continue managing excess liquidity in the banking sector and maintain stability in financial markets.
The move is also expected to provide greater policy certainty for investors and businesses monitoring the country’s monetary policy direction.
The latest decision also means borrowing costs are likely to remain elevated in the near term as the central bank continues to prioritise price stability over monetary easing.
Analysts had expected the CBN committee to retain the rate after Nigeria’s headline inflation came in at 15.91 per cent as of June 2026, marking a slight decline from 15.93 per cent in May.
However, even as overall price growth has moderated significantly compared to previous periods, food inflation remains a persistent challenge, accelerating to 17.52 per cent in June.
