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 Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has announced the commencement of compliance monitoring activities for large taxpayers under the National e-Invoicing and Electronic Fiscal System (EFS) regime.
A statement issued on Monday and signed by the agency’s chairman, Mr Zacch Adedeji, advised corporate organisations that have yet to adopt this system to do so on or before July 31, 2026.
Recall that on February 17, 2026, NRS issued an implementation timeline for the mandatory adoption of the EFS, also known as the Merchant Buyer Solution (MBS), by large taxpayers.
They were asked to complete the process of onboarding, integration, testing, and commence invoice transmission to the NRS e-invoicing platform in accordance with the prescribed implementation framework.
The compliances include the completion of onboarding on the NRS MBS; the successful integration of taxpayer systems through approved Access Point Providers (APPs) and/or Systems Integrators (SIS); the completion of all required validation and testing activities; the active transmission of invoices to the NRS e-invoicing platform in line with approved standards and guidelines; and the receipt of only compliant e-invoices with a valid Invoice Reference Number (IRN) from suppliers.
Ahead of the deadline, the NRS has commenced compliance monitoring activities to assess the level of adherence to the e-invoicing mandate across the large taxpayer segment.
Those that have not completed the process have been asked to conclude all outstanding onboarding and integration activities and commence invoice transmission before the compliance deadline.
The organisation warned that failure to comply would trigger regulatory and enforcement actions in accordance with the provisions of the relevant tax laws and regulations.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Transcorp Power Plc suffered declines in its revenue and profit in the first half of this year; details of the company’s financial statements for the period ended June 30, 2026, have revealed.
The losses were attributed to recurring transmission line vandalism, which materially constrained the organisation’s ability to evacuate available generation capacity.
Business Post reports that earnings contracted in the first six months of this year to N181.97 billion from the N205.81 billion recorded in the same period of last year, while profit before tax moderated to N54.99 billion from N58.73 billion.
However, on a year-to-date basis, total assets went up to N619.02 billion from N563.48 billion in December 2025, as shareholders’ funds grew to N189.34 billion from N183.40 billion in FY 2025, while retained earnings soared to N140.90 billion from N123.41 billion in FY 2025.
It was observed that the increase in receivables and borrowings largely drove the expansion in the balance sheet during the period.
Also, the firm’s gross margin expanded to 38.4 per cent from 34.7 per cent in H1 2025, operating margin increased to 30.6 per cent from 28.5 per cent, and PBT margin rose to 30.2 per cent from 28.5 per cent, reflecting cost optimisation efforts and disciplined financial management, positioning the company to continue delivering sustainable value for shareholders.
“Our H1 2026 performance is a reflection of the resilience of our business operations despite significant sector-wide existential challenges.
“Regrettably, recurring transmission line vandalisation materially constrained our ability to evacuate available generation capacity.
“Nonetheless, we continued to deliver strong profitability, maintain operational efficiency, and strengthen our balance sheet,” the chief executive of Transcorp Power, Mr Peter Ikenga, stated.
“We remain committed to working with relevant stakeholders to put an end to transmission line vandalisation and to further improving operational performance, power generation supply reliability, and creating sustainable value for our shareholders. We remain highly confident that we will recover lost ground in H1 2026 and finish FY 2026 stronger than FY 2025,” he added.
By Dipo Olowookere
A total of 2.819 billion stocks worth N182.499 billion exchanged hands in 226,729 deals on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last week, in contrast to the 3.648 billion stocks valued at N220.568 billion transacted in 251,861 deals a week earlier.
From this, financial shares accounted for 2.006 billion units sold for N99.697 billion in 96,171 deals, contributing 71.17 per cent and 54.63 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
Consumer goods equities traded 178.863 million units worth N7.872 billion in 26,637 deals, and energy stocks recorded a turnover of 151.237 million units valued at N38.309 billion in 16,879 deals.
First Holdco, FCMB, and Access Holdings accounted for 939.402 million units worth N57.673 billion in 19,051 deals, contributing 33.33 per cent and 31.60 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
Business Post reports that the performance indicators were mixed in the five-day trading week, as the All-Share Index (ASI) depreciated by 0.14 per cent to 243,462.13 points, while the market capitalisation appreciated by 0.39 per cent to N157.057 trillion.
All other indices finished higher except the main board, consumer goods, energy, Lotus II, industrial goods, growth, and sovereign bond indices, which fell by 1.54 per cent, 0.15 per cent, 0.11 per cent, 0.40 per cent, 6.26 per cent, 0.09 per cent, and 0.33 per cent, respectively, while the commodity index closed flat.
Forty-four shares gained weight in the week versus 60 shares of the preceding week, 35 equities depreciated versus 28 equities in the previous week, and 67 stocks closed flat versus 58 stocks of the earlier week.
The best-performing stock was First Holdco, which gained 38.66 per cent to trade at N95.95. Thomas Wyatt expanded by 27.16 per cent to N3.09, Fidelity Bank grew by 15.00 per cent to N21.85, Learn Africa grew by 14.44 per cent to N10.30, and UBA chalked up 10.98 per cent to close at N45.50.
The worst-performing stock was BUA Cement after giving up 18.99 per cent to quote at N275.60, Red Star Express shed 18.53 per cent to end at N20.00, International Energy Insurance declined by 15.27 per cent to N4.66, C&I Leasing dropped 13.28 per cent to N5.55, and PZ Cussons crashed by 10.06 per cent to N80.95.
