Economy
Trade War Concerns Resurface Again on Wall Street
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Friday following the upward move seen over the course of the three previous sessions.
Renewed trade war concerns may weigh on the markets after President Donald Trump threatened China with $100 billion of additional tariffs.
The threat from Trump comes after the U.S. and China traded tit-for-tat tariff announcements earlier in the week, leading to considerable volatility on Wall Street.
Responding to the threat from Trump, the Chinese Commerce Ministry declared it would ?not hesitate? to retaliate to new tariffs ?at any cost.?
However, Trump said the U.S. is still prepared to have discussions with China in support of its commitment to achieving free, fair, and reciprocal trade.
Negative sentiment may also be generated by a report from the Labor Department showing U.S. job growth slowed by much more than anticipated in the month of March.
After turning higher over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, stocks saw some further upside during trading on Thursday. The major averages fluctuated in afternoon trading but managed to end the day firmly in positive territory.
The major averages closed higher for the third straight day following the sell-off on Monday. The Dow jumped 240.92 points or 1 percent to 24,505.22, the Nasdaq rose 34.44 points or 0.5 percent to 7,076.55 and the S&P 500 climbed 18.15 points or 0.7 percent to 2,662.84.
The continued strength on Wall Street reflected easing concerns about a potential trade war between the U.S. and China, which have recently led to considerable volatility on Wall Street.
The U.S. and China have engaged in tit-for-tat tariff announcements, but traders seem optimistic that the threats are only a precursor to negotiations of a trade agreement between the two countries.
Amid the focus on trade relations, the Commerce Department released a report showing the U.S. trade deficit widened by more than anticipated in the month of February.
The Commerce Department said the trade deficit widened to $57.6 billion in February from a revised $56.7 billion in January. Economists had expected the trade deficit to widen to $56.8 billion.
The wider than expected trade deficit in February was the widest since the $60.2 billion trade deficit recorded in October of 2008.
However, Andrew Hunter, U.S. Economist at Capital Economics, noted the wider trade deficit was entirely due to a one-off royalty payment for broadcasting rights to the Winter Olympics.
A separate report from the Labor Department showed a bigger than expected increase in initial jobless claims in the week ended March 31st.
The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 242,000, an increase of 24,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 218,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 225,000.
Energy stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day amid a modest increase by the price of crude oil. Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index surged up by 3.4 percent, the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index jumped by 2.8 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index advanced by 1.9 percent.
Considerable strength was also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 2.8 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. The strength in the sector reflected the easing trade war concerns.
Chemical stocks also saw significant strength, driving the S&P Chemicals Index up by 1.9 percent. The index continued to rebound after hitting its lowest closing level in nearly seven months on Monday.
Brokerage, retail and housing stocks also moved notably higher, while some weakness emerged among semiconductor and biotechnology stocks.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited depreciated further by 0.44 per cent on Wednesday as selling pressure continued as investors monitor happenings in Rivers State, where pipeline explosion and political crisis triggered a state of emergency by President Bola Tinubu.
Investor sentiment was weak at midweek as Customs Street ended with 37 price losers and 13 price gainers, representing a negative market breadth index.
Livestock Feeds lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N8.46, eTranzact declined by 9.40 per cent to N5.30, Coronation Insurance slumped by 9.27 per cent to N2.35, MRS Oil shed 8.99 per cent to settle at N162.00, and May and Baker crashed by 8.05 per cent to N8.00.
On the flip side, Julius Berger appreciated by 8.47 per cent to N137.00, Omatek gained 6.15 per cent to close at 69 Kobo, UPDC rose by 2.69 per cent to N3.05, Wema Bank expanded by 2.43 per cent to N10.55, and Unilever Nigeria improved by 2.12 per cent to N38.50.
Business Post reports that all the key sectors witnessed profit-taking except the industrial goods space, which closed flat.
The insurance counter went down by 1.62 per cent, the banking index lost 1.37 per cent, the energy space shed 1.32 per cent, the commodity sector tumbled by 0.45 per cent, and the consumer goods industry shrank by 0.09 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 460.56 points to 104,915.13 points from 105,375.69 points and the market capitalisation dropped N288 billion to finish at N65.790 trillion compared with Tuesday’s value of N66.078 trillion.
The market recorded a turnover of 1.4 billion stocks worth N12.4 billion in 12,012 deals versus the 350.0 million stocks valued at N8.2 billion traded in 11,230 deals in the preceding session, indicating a surge in the trading volume, value and number of deals by 290.46 per cent, 51.22 per cent, and 6.96 per cent, respectively.
The busiest equity yesterday was Sovereign Trust Insurance with the sale of 1.0 billion units for N989.0 million, Fidelity Bank transacted 42.8 million units worth N723.2 million, Access Holdings exchanged 30.6 million units valued at N698.0 million, Jaiz Bank sold 24.0 million units worth N85.0 million, and Zenith Bank traded 21.6 million units valued at N1.0 billion.
By Dipo Olowookere
The president of Dangote Industries Limited, Mr Aliko Dangote, has disclosed that Nigeria was now self-sufficient in cement and fertilizer, with the surplus being exported to earn foreign exchange (FX), which the country desperately needs to boost the Naira and the economy.
He said the target of his company is to make the nation self-sufficient in whatever it consumes, noting that his Lagos-based refinery is currently meeting domestic demand for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol.
After a meeting with the governor of Ogun State, Mr Dapo Abiodun, the industrialist, said he would continue to invest in the country.
Mr Dangote was in Ogun State to finalise plans to build a multi-billion-dollar seaport and two new lines of cement plant with a capacity of 6.0 million metric tons per annum, (Mta) at Itori.
The richest man in Africa said he was attracted to Ogun State because of the investor-friendly climate in the state and the policies of Mr Abiodun.
He recounted how his predecessor, Mr Ibikunle Amosun, frustrated his efforts to invest in Ogun State, saying, “We had earlier abandoned our vision of investing in the Olokola Free Trade Zone (OKFTZ), but because of your policies and investor-friendly environment, I want to say we are back and will work with the state government to return to Olokola, and plans are underway to construct the largest port in the country.”
“Our factory at Itori was pulled down twice. When we started the second time, they not only demolished the factory but also the fence, so we left. But right now, because of His Excellency, our governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, we are back. When you visit the factory, you will be surprised at what we have done,” he stated.
In his remarks, Mr Abiodun described the day the Dangote Refinery groundbreaking was performed in Lagos as “the day of heartbreak for the sons and daughters of Ogun State as they watched helplessly on television.”
But he thanked Mr Dangote for “coming back to Ogun State” to invest after his earlier bad experience, saying, “We welcome your return to the state” to complete the cement factor at Itori.
The Governor emphasized that with the establishment of the Itori cement plant, proposed to produce six million metric tons of cement per annum, and the existing Ibeshe plant, producing 12 million metric tons, cement production in the state would total 18 million metric tons per annum, making it the largest cement producer in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.
He lauded the company for not shirking its Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSRs) to the host communities, just as it is currently constructing the Inter-change-Papalato-Ilaro road, assuring that his administration is ready to work with the conglomerate for the good of the state and the nation as a whole.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos has announced the suspension of the sales of petroleum products in Naira.
This action came after the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited halted its Naira-for-crude oil agreement with the company and other local refiners.
Last month, the state-owned oil agency said it would stop selling crude oil to Dangote Refinery in Naira from the end of this month, claiming its deals was for six months, from October 2024 to March 2025.
This came after the private refinery triggered a price war with the NNPC, crashing the price of premium motor spirit (PMS) to N825 per litre from its depots.
The NNPC operates in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry but the Dangote Refinery only has partners like MRS Oil, Ardova Plc, and Heyden, which sell its products to customers at retail prices.
In a statement signed by its management of Wednesday, Dangote Refinery it temporarily halted the sale of petroleum products in Naira “to avoid a mismatch between our sales proceeds and our crude oil purchase obligations, which are currently denominated in U.S. dollars.”
“To date, our sales of petroleum products in Naira have exceeded the value of Naira-denominated crude we have received.
“As a result, we must temporarily adjust our sales currency to align with our crude procurement currency,” it stated.
“We remain committed to serving the Nigerian market efficiently and sustainably. As soon as we receive an allocation of Naira-denominated crude cargoes from NNPC, we will promptly resume petroleum product sales in Naira,” the statement emphasised.
The company also debunked reports that it stopped loading from its facility “due to an incident of ticketing fraud.”
Dangote Refinery described these reports as “malicious falsehood,” noting that its systems “are robust and we have had no fraud issues.”
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