Economy

Trade Talks Uncertainty May Weigh on US Stocks

Published

8 years ago

03/05/2018

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Thursday, with stocks likely to see further downside after coming under pressure late in the previous session.

The downwardly momentum on Wall Street comes as traders are keeping a close eye on trade talks between the U.S. and China.

The U.S. delegation led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is expected to raise concerns with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He about a number of China’s trade practices.

In a post to Twitter, President Donald Trump said, ?Our great financial team is in China trying to negotiate a level playing field on trade!?

?I look forward to being with President Xi in the not too distant future,? he added. ?We will always have a good (great) relationship!?

Stocks came under pressure in late-day trading on Wednesday following the Federal Reserve’s announcement of its latest monetary policy decision. The major averages pulled back firmly into negative territory, with the Dow falling to its lowest closing level in a month.

The major averages ended the day just off their lows of the session. The Dow slumped 174.07 points or 0.7 percent to 23,924.98, the Nasdaq fell 29.81 points or 0.4 percent to 7,100.90 and the S&P 500 slid 19.13 points or 0.7 percent to 2,635.67.

The sharp decline seen late in the session came after the Federal Reserve announced its widely expected decision to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 1.5 to 1.75 percent.

Selling pressure may have been generated by the Fed’s comments about inflation, which signaled that an interest rate hike is likely in June.

Economists pointed to a comment from the Fed indicating that the annual rate of inflation is expected to run near its symmetric 2 percent objective over the medium term.

The Fed also said risks to the economic outlook appear roughly balanced and reiterated its expectation that economic conditions will evolve in a manner that will warrant further gradual increases in interest rates.

“Officials remain on course to raise rates again in June and we expect two further 25bp rate hikes in the second half of this year,” said Andrew Hunter, U.S. Economist at Capital Economics.

The release of the Fed statement overshadowed the release of a report from payroll processor ADP showing private sector employment increased by slightly more than anticipated in the month of April.

ADP said private sector employment surged up by 204,000 jobs in April after spiking by a revised 228,000 jobs in March.

Economists had expected private sector employment to shoot up by about 200,000 jobs compared to the jump of 241,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

“Despite rising trade tensions, more volatile financial markets, and poor weather, businesses are adding a robust more than 200,000 jobs per month,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics.

He added, “At this pace, unemployment will soon be in the threes, which is rarified and risky territory, as the economy threatens to overheat.”

While the broader markets came under pressure, Apple (AAPL) held on to a strong gain after the tech giant reported fiscal second quarter results that beat analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

Apple also said its board approved a new $100 billion share repurchase authorization and a 16 percent increase in its quarterly dividend.

Telecom stocks showed a significant move to the downside on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Telecom Index down by 1.6 percent. With the drop, the index fell to its lowest closing level in six months.

Within the telecom sector, T-Mobile (TMUS) posted a steep loss despite the wireless carrier reporting better than expected first quarter results.

Considerable weakness was also visible among pharmaceutical stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index. The index fell to a one-month closing low.

Biotechnology and transportation stocks also saw notable weakness, while some strength was visible among oil service and gold stocks.

Economy

MRS Oil, FrieslandCampina Wamco Shrink NASD Index by 0.68%

Published

5 minutes ago

06/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The duo of MRS Oil and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.68 per cent on Friday, June 5.

MRS Plc lost N19.00 during the session to sell at N171.00 per share compared with Thursday’s value of N190.00 per share, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N8.70 to finish at N181.68 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N190.38 per unit.

As a result, the market capitalisation further lost N22.59 billion to close at N2.607 trillion versus the N2.630 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 37.76 points to settle at 4,358.32 points, in contrast to the previous day’s 4,396.08 points.

The alternative stock market closed the last trading day of this week with a price gainer, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gained 6 Kobo to quote at N78.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N78.34 per share. However, it could not prevent the market from going down at the close of business.

Yesterday, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors went down by 50.0 per cent to 140,345 units from the preceding day’s 280,714 units, the value of stocks decreased by 16.5 per cent to N17.9 million from the previous session’s N21.5 million, and the number of deals carried out by market participants fell by 35.7 per cent to 27 deals from the 42 deals recorded on Thursday.

When trading activities closed for the day, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 billion.

GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.

Economy

NGX Index Rebounds 0.15% on Renewed Interest in Financial Stocks

Published

14 minutes ago

06/06/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

Renewed interest in financial stocks and others lifted the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 0.15 per cent on Friday.

Customs Street closed higher yesterday despite the 1.37 per cent loss recorded by the consumer goods sector as a result of profit-taking.

This was offset by gains in the other key sectors of the local bourse, as the insurance counter chalked up 1,14 per cent. The banking space appreciated by 0.90 per cent, the industrial goods segment grew by 0.46 per cent, and the energy sector expanded by 0.01 per cent.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 366.00 points to 242,593.31 points from 242,227.31 points, and the market capitalisation gained N235 billion to close at N155.594 trillion compared with the previous day’s N155.359 trillion.

The trio of International Energy Insurance, Abbey Mortgage Bank, and DAAR Communications improved by 10.00 per cent each yesterday to N7.26, N9.35, and N1.98, respectively, while Zichis advanced by 9.39 per cent to N32.38, with Sovereign Trust Insurance up by 8.70 per cent to N2.50.

On the flip side, Academy Press lost 9.84 per cent to quote at N8.25, University Press depreciated by 9.73 per cent to N5.10, Africa Prudential dipped by 2.63 per cent to N12.95, Chams crumbled by 2.44 per cent to N4.00, and International Breweries slipped by 1.59 per cent to N12.35.

Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive during the session after recording 37 appreciating equities and 14 depreciating equities, implying strong investor sentiment.

Abbey Mortgage Bank led the activity chart with a turnover of 164.1 million units worth N1.5 billion, Ellah Lakes sold 76.7 million units for N767.2 million, Access Holdings transacted 44.8 million units valued at N1.1 billion, Linkage Assurance exchanged 23.0 million units worth N41.2 million, and The Initiates traded 20.2 million units for N562.1 million.

At the close of trades, market participants transacted 608.5 million units worth N32.0 billion in 53,826 deals versus the 588.5 million units valued at N27.9 billion executed in 57,352 deals in the previous session. This showed that the number of deals eased by 6.15 per cent, the volume of transactions rose by 3.40 per cent, and the value of transactions soared by 14.70 per cent.

Economy

Naira Depreciates to N1,362/$1 at Official Market

Published

40 minutes ago

06/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira further depreciated against the United States Dollar by N3.46 or 0.25 per cent to N1,362.21/$1 from N1,358.75/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 5.

However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window during the session by N4.47 to trade at N1,823.59/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,828.06/£1, and gained N7.00 against the Euro to sell at N1,574.58/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,581.58/€1.

For another trading session, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the Dollar in the parallel market and the GTBank forex counter on Friday at N1,375/$1 and N1,372/$1, respectively.

The Naira is expected to remain strong in the near term, backed by a rise in external reserves, which are nearing $50 billion, enhancing analysts’ confidence about its outlook in the second half of 2026.

Heightened global uncertainty has reduced the incentive for importers and corporates to demand FX, as cautious trade weighs on import needs. Analysts estimate a $40 billion net FX position for the year, a projection anchored in oil windfall gains.

As for the cryptocurrency market, prices remained depressed following a strong US jobs report that spurred markets to price in higher-for-longer interest rates, sending Treasury yields and the dollar up while hammering stocks, especially AI-related names. Crypto markets saw heavy leverage washouts with about $1.6 billion in positions liquidated over 24 hours.

Ethereum (ETH) gave up 4.9 per cent to trade at $1,584.68, Solana (SOL) fell by 3.3 per cent to $63.22, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 1.9 per cent to $61,333.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 1.8 per cent to $0.0821, and Ripple (XRP) moderated by 1.8 per cent to $1.09.

Further, TRON (TRX) dropped 1.6 per cent to sell at $0.3197, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.0 per cent to $581.18, and Cardano (ADA) declined by 0.4 per cent to $0.1589, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) gained 0.07 to sell at $0.9997, and US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $0.9998.