Economy
Trade War Concerns May Further Weigh on Wall Street
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a sharply lower opening on Friday, with stocks likely to extend the sell-off seen over the past few sessions.
The downward momentum on Wall Street comes as traders express concerns about the impact President Donald Trump?s plans to impose new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports will have on global trade.
Trump shrugged off the concerns in a post on Twitter early Friday morning, calling trade wars ?good? and ?easy to win?
?When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win,? Trump said.
He added, ?Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don?t trade anymore-we win big. It?s easy!?
Following Trump?s announcement, several industry groups warned that the tariffs would lead to increased costs and hamper their ability to create jobs.
Stocks moved considerably lower during trading on Thursday, extending the sharp pullback seen over the two previous sessions. The major averages showed a lack of direction early in the day session but slid firmly into negative territory as the day progressed.
While the major averages climbed off their lows of the session, they still posted steep losses on the day. The Dow plummeted 420.22 points or 1.7 percent to 24,608.98, the Nasdaq tumbled 92.45 points or 1.3 percent to 7,180.56 and the S&P 500 slumped 36.16 points or 1.3 percent to 2,677.67.
The continued weakness on Wall Street came amid concerns about a potential trade war after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. will impose new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
Trump told metals industry executives at a White House meeting that he would sign an order formally imposing the new sanctions next week.
“Sometime next week we’ll be signing it in,” Trump said. “And you’re going to have protection for the first time in a long time.”
Trump indicated that he plans to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports.
The tariffs are likely to benefit U.S. steel and aluminum producers, although some officials have warned of retaliation by the European Union and China.
Earlier in the day, traders kept a close eye on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s second day of testimony on Capitol Hill.
Powell testified before the Senate Banking Committee after his remarks before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday sparked fears the Fed may raise interest rates more than previously estimated.
The Fed chief added to uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates after telling the Senate committee there has not yet been strong evidence of a decisive increase in wages.
“We see wages by a couple of measures trending up a little bit, but most of them continuing to grow at two and a half percent,” Powell said.
“Nothing is suggesting to me that wage inflation is at a point of accelerating,” he added. “I would expect that some continued strengthening in the labor market can take place without causing inflation.”
On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell to a nearly fifty-year low.
The report said initial jobless claims fell to 210,000 in the week ended February 24th, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 220,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 226,000.
With the unexpected decrease, initial jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting 202,000 in December of 1969.
A separate report from the Commerce Department showed personal income increased by slightly more than expected in the month of January, while personal spending rose in line with estimates.
The Commerce Department said personal income climbed by 0.4 percent in January, matching the increase seen in December. Economists had expected income to rise by 0.3 percent.
Additionally, the report said personal spending edged up by 0.2 percent in January after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.4 percent in December.
Personal spending had been expected to rise by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.3 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
The Institute for Supply Management also released a report showing an unexpected acceleration in the pace of growth in the manufacturing sector in the month of February.
The ISM said its purchasing managers index climbed to 60.8 in February from 59.1 in January, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in the manufacturing sector. Economists had expected the index to edge down to 58.7.
With the unexpected increase, the purchasing managers index reached its highest level since hitting 61.4 in May of 2004.
Most of the major sectors moved to the downside on the day, although particular weakness was visible among semiconductor stocks.
Reflecting the weakness in the semiconductor, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbled by 1.6 percent. The index continued to give back ground after reaching a record intraday high on Tuesday.
Healthcare stocks also moved significantly lower, dragging the Dow Jones U.S. Health Care Index down by 1.5 percent.
Biotechnology, financial, and chemical stocks also saw notable weakness, while some strength was visible among natural gas, steel and gold stocks.
By Dipo Olowookere
About 0.04 per cent was recovered on Friday from the loss recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) the previous due to profit-taking.
Yesterday, investors were in the market with renewed vigour, mopping up stocks trading at relatively cheaper prices.
According to data, the insurance counter gained 0.41 per cent, the banking sector appreciated by 0.38 per cent, and the consumer goods index grew by 0.14 per cent.
The gains achieved by these three sectors were enough to lift Customs Street at the close of business despite the 0.26 per cent decline printed by the industrial goods segment and the 0.14 per cent loss suffered by the energy industry. The commodity counter was flat during the session.
A total of 43 equities gained weight on the last trading day of this week, while 26 equities shed weight, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Red Star Express increased its share price by 10.00 per cent to N13.20, NCR Nigeria grew by 9.97 per cent to N128.55, SCOA Nigeria inflated by 9.96 per cent to N14.90, Omatek appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N1.77, and Deap Capital expanded by 9.85 per cent to N4.46.
On the flip side, McNichols decreased by 8.81 per cent to N6.00, Legend Internet crumbled by 7.56 per cent to N5.50, Cornerstone Insurance crashed by 6.48 per cent to N6.35, C&I Leasing contracted by 6.29 per cent to N8.20, and Austin Laz slipped by 5.78 per cent to N3.75.
Yesterday, 539.9 million shares valued at N16.7 billion were transacted in 48,023 deals versus the 1.0 billion shares worth N31.6 billion executed in 51,227 deals in the preceding day, implying a shrink in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 46.01 per cent, 47.15 per cent, and 6.26 per cent apiece.
Zenith Bank was the most active for the day with 54.6 million stocks sold for N3.8 billion, Jaiz Bank traded 41.5 million units worth N359.4 million, Secure Electronic Technology transacted 37.7 million units valued at N39.2 million, Access Holdings exchanged 30.5 million units for N699.2 million, and Lasaco Assurance transacted 27.2 million units worth N68.3 million.
When the market closed for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 72.21 points to 166,129.50 points from 166,057.29 points and the market capitalisation gained N31 billion to N106.354 trillion from N106.323 trillion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was a positive ending for the Naira this week after it further appreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, January 16 by N1.33 or 0.09 per cent to sell for N1,417.95/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,419.28/$1.
The domestic currency also gained N2.41 against the Euro in the official market to close at N1,647.51/€1 versus the preceding session’s closing price of N1,649.92/€1, however, it suffered a N7.97 loss against the Pound Sterling in the same market window to trade at N1,901.32/£1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,893.35/£1.
In the same vein, the Nigerian Naira depleted against the Dollar at the GTBank FX counter by N2 to quote at N1,427/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,425/$1, but strengthened against the greenback at the black market yesterday by N5 to settle at N1,485/$1 versus the N1,490/$1 it was exchanged a day earlier.
Improved supply conditions helped keep the market within range as exporters’ and importers’ inflows in addition to non-bank corporate supply enhanced liquidity as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) made no visible intervention.
Stronger external inflows from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and improving current account dynamics, continue to align with structural support in the wider economy.
Nigeria has seen projections of a stronger economic or gross domestic product (GDP) growth and lower inflation in 2026, with these forecasts citing improved macroeconomic fundamentals and reform impacts.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it was mixed following selloff in precious metals and lower US stocks appeared to be denting crypto sentiment.
Gold and silver, both of which also enjoyed big rallies earlier this week, tumbled 1.2 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively while key US stock indexes — the Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average — all reversed from early gains to modest losses in Friday trade.
Dogecoin (DOGE) shrank by 2.2 per cent to $0.1370, Ripple (XRP) slipped by 0.8 per cent to $2.05, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 0.7 per cent to $3,228.56, and Bitcoin (BTC) slumped by 0.6 per cent to $95,086.80.
Conversely, Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 3.2 per cent to $74.48, Solana (SOL) rose by 0.4 per cent to $143.70, Cardano (ADA) jumped by 0.2 per cent to $0.3942, and Binance Coin (BNB) increased by 0.1 per cent to $935.88, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices settled higher amid lingering worries about a possible US military strike against Iran, a decision that may still occur over the weekend.
Brent crude settled at $64.13 a barrel after going up by 37 cents or 0.58 per cent and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude finished at $59.44 a barrel after it gained 25 cents or 0.42 per cent.
The US Navy’s aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln was expected to arrive in the Persian Gulf next week after operating in the South China Sea.
Market analysts noted that it doesn’t seem likely anything will happen soon. However, the weekends have become the perfect time for actions so as not offset the markets.
The market had risen after protests flared up in Iran and US President Donald Trump signalled the potential for military strikes, but lost over 4 per cent on Thursday as the American president said Iran’s crackdown on the protesters was easing, allaying concerns of possible military action that could disrupt oil supplies.
Iran produces approximately 3.2 million barrels per day, accounting for roughly 4 per cent of global crude production, so it was not a coincidence that markets rallied sharply through Tuesday and Wednesday as President Trump canceled meetings with Iranian officials and posted that “help is on its way” to Iranian protesters, raising fears of potential US military strikes that sent prices surging toward multi-month highs.
Weighing against those fears are potential supply increases from Venezuela.
The Trump administration is exploring plans to swap heavy Venezuelan crude for US medium sour barrels that can actually go straight into Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) caverns, since not all all oil belongs in the reserve.
According to Reuters, the Department of Energy is considering moving Venezuelan heavy crude into commercial storage at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, while US producers deliver medium sour crude into the SPR in exchange.
Analysts expect higher supply this year, potentially creating a ceiling for the geopolitical risk premium on prices.
Some investors covered short positions ahead of the three-day Martin Luther King holiday weekend in the US.
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