Economy
Trade War Once Again in Focus on Wall Street
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Friday, with stocks likely to extend the pullback seen in the previous session.
Renewed trade war concerns may weigh on the markets after President Donald Trump indicated a willingness to impose tariffs on all Chinese imports to the U.S.
“I’m ready to go to 500,” Trump said in an interview with CNBC that aired this morning, apparently referring to the $505.5 billion of Chinese imports to the U.S. in 2017.
“I?’ not doing this for politics, I’m doing this to do the right thing for our country,” Trump said. “We have been ripped off by China for a long time.”
The Trump administration previously imposed tariffs of $34 billion worth of Chinese imports and has threatened to impose tariffs on another $200 billion worth of goods.
Trump argued the strength in the stock market since his election has allowed him to be more aggressive on trade, claiming, ?We?re playing with the bank?s money.”
Stocks moved mostly lower during trading on Thursday, giving back some ground after trending higher over the past several sessions. The major averages moved to the downside early in the session and remained stuck in the red throughout the day.
The major averages ended the day firmly in negative territory. The Dow slid 134.79 points or 0.5 percent to 25,064.50, the Nasdaq fell 29.15 points or 0.4 percent to 7,825.30 and the S&P 500 dropped 11.13 points or 0.4 percent to 2,804.49.
Profit taking contributed to the pullback on Wall Street, as some traders cashed in on the upward move seen in recent sessions.
Recent strength in the markets lifted the Nasdaq to a record closing high on Tuesday, while the S&P 500 ended the previous session at its best closing level in over five months. The Dow also reached a monthly closing high.
A negative reaction to disappointing earnings news from several big-name companies also weighed on the markets on the day.
Shares of eBay (EBAY) moved sharply lower after the e-commerce giant reported better than expected second quarter earnings but provided disappointing full-year guidance.
Insurance giant Travelers (TRV) also came under pressure after reporting second quarter earnings below analyst estimates.
Shares of American Express (AXP) also moved to the downside after the credit card giant reported second quarter earnings that beat expectations but on weaker than expected revenues.
On the other hand, shares of IBM Corp. (IBM) jumped after the tech giant reported second quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
Traders were also reacting to comments by President Donald Trump, who said in an excerpt of an interview with CNBC that he is “not thrilled” with interest rate hikes by the Fed.
“I’m not thrilled,” Trump said in the interview set to air in full on Friday. “Because we go up and every time you go up they want to raise rates again. I don’t really ? I am not happy about it.”
At the same time, Trump noted he is letting the Fed do “what they feel is best,” and a subsequent statement from the White House said the president respects the independence of the central bank.
Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a report from the Labor Department showing initial jobless claims unexpectedly dropped to their lowest level in almost five decades in the week ended July 14th.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 207,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 215,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 220,000.
With the unexpected decrease, jobless claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting 202,000 in December of 1969.
A separate report from the Conference Board also showed a slightly bigger than expected increase by its index of leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of June.
Steel stocks turned in some of the market’s worst performances on the day after moving sharply higher over the two previous sessions. Reflecting the weakness in the sector, the NYSE Arca Steel Index slumped by 2 percent.
Considerable weakness was also visible among financial stocks, with the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index and the KBW Bank Index both falling by 1.4 percent.
Pharmaceutical, telecom, and gold stocks also moved notably lower, while natural gas, real estate, and housing stocks moved to the upside.
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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