Economy
Trade Worries May Overshadow Upbeat Jobs Data
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Friday, with stocks likely to extend the move to the downside seen over the past few sessions.
The downward momentum on Wall Street comes even though the Labor Department released a report showing stronger than expected job growth in the month of August.
The data may have raised concerns about the outlook for interest rates, as the report also showed an unexpected acceleration in the rate of wage growth.
Lingering trade concerns may also weigh on the markets following the expiration of a public comment period on new U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.
Traders are likely to keep a close on the President Donald Trump and his administration for news regarding the implementation of the proposed tariffs.
China’s Commerce Ministry has warned it will be forced to roll out necessary retaliatory measures if the U.S. adopts any new tariffs.
Adding to the worries about, Trump reportedly told a columnist for the Wall Street Journal he is ?still bothered by the terms of U.S. trade with Japan.?
Stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Thursday, extending the decline seen over the two previous sessions. The Nasdaq posted another significant loss, although the Dow once again managed to close in positive territory.
While the Dow inched up 20.88 points or 0.1 percent to 25,995.87, the Nasdaq slumped 72.45 points or 0.9 percent to 7,922.73 and the S&P 500 fell 10.55 points or 0.4 percent at 2,878.05.
Technology stocks extended the sharp drop seen on Wednesday, contributing to the notable decline by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
Traders appear to be expressing concerns that recent strength in the tech sector, which helped lift the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to record highs, may have been overdone.
The weakness on Wall Street also came following the release of a slew of U.S. economic data, including a report from payroll processor ADP showing private sector employment rose by less than expected in the month of August.
ADP said private sector employment climbed by 163,000 jobs in August after jumping by a revised 217,000 jobs in July. Economists had expected an increase of about 190,000 jobs.
“Although we saw a small slowdown in job growth the market remains incredibly dynamic,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute.
On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched monthly jobs report, which includes both public and private sector jobs.
The report is expected to show employment increased by about 191,000 jobs in August after rising by 157,000 jobs in July. The unemployment rate is expected to dip to 3.8 percent from 3.9 percent.
In other economic news, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing a much bigger than expected acceleration in the pace of growth in U.S. service sector activity in August.
The ISM said its non-manufacturing index jumped to 58.5 in August from 55.7 in July, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in the service sector. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 56.8.
“There was a strong rebound for the non-manufacturing sector in August after growth ‘cooled off’ in July,” said Anthony Nieves, Chair of the ISM Non-Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.
“Logistics, tariffs and employment resources continue to have an impact on many of the respective industries,” he added. “Overall, the respondents remain positive about business conditions and the economy.”
Traders also kept an eye out for developments regarding trade, as U.S. and Canadian officials continue to hold talks on reforming NAFTA.
Energy stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the session amid another steep drop by the price of crude oil. Reflecting the weakness in the energy sector, the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index plunged by 2.9 percent, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index plummeted by 2.5 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index slid by 1.6 percent.
Significant weakness was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 2.7 percent drop by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The index pulled back further off the more than two-month closing high set on Tuesday.
Biotechnology stocks also saw considerable weakness on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index down by 2.1 percent. With the drop, the index continued to give back ground after reaching a record closing high a week ago.
Brokerage, networking, and computer hardware stocks also moved notably lower, while most of the other major sectors showed more modest moves.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude production under the collective Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC ) fell in May to its lowest level in at least 37 years as the blockade of Iran by the United States and disruptions in the Persian Gulf, continued to limit output.
According to a Bloomberg survey released on Friday, output from the organisation’s 11 current members, including Nigeria, dropped by 1.22 million barrels per day to 16.33 million barrels per day last month.
Iran accounted for more than half of the decline. The data excludes the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which departed the cartel last month after six decades of membership.
War between a US-Israeli alliance and Iran has reduced oil supplies from the Middle East, largely closing the Strait of Hormuz waterway. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE and Kuwait have been forced to cut crude production. Iranian shipments face additional pressure following a US blockade of its ports imposed in mid-April.
Iranian output fell by 710,000 barrels per day to a five-year low of 2.34 million barrels per day in May, the survey showed. Central Command reported that US forces have redirected 127 commercial vessels to enforce the blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports.
Kuwait recorded the second-largest decline last month, with production falling by 310,000 barrels per day to 490,000 barrels per day, less than one-fifth of pre-war levels. Saudi Arabia, the group’s leader, saw output decrease by 240,000 barrels per day to 6.57 million barrels per day.
The production reductions have not prevented OPEC and its allies from raising quotas over recent months, continuing a year-long process of restoring output halted several years ago.
This comes ahead of a meeting scheduled to be held on Sunday, June 7, where a sub-group of seven members is expected to increase targets by 188,000 barrels again in July. The session is one of four online meetings OPEC and its partners plan to hold that day.
Delegates indicated the alliance has plans for two additional monthly quota increases in August and September. UAE output rose by 300,000 barrels per day to 2.44 million barrels per day in May, according to the survey.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The 2025 third quarter Budget Implementation Report from the Budget Office of the Federation has shown that the federal government exceeded the funds allocation for repayment of debts for the first nine months of the fiscal year by about 18 per cent.
In a report by Punch, the sum of N10.74 trillion was budgeted for debt servicing between January and September 2025, but the government used N12.63 trillion for the purpose, N1.90 trillion or 17.65 per cent more than the allocation for the year.
The funds were spent on domestic debts, foreign debts and sinking fund by the central government in nine months.
Business Post reports that for the whole year, the amount approved by the National Assembly and signed by President Bola Tinubu for debt repayments was N14.31 trillion.
Looking at the nine-month figures, domestic debt service gulped N6.23 trillion, exceeding its N5.39 trillion provision, while foreign debt service was N6.30 trillion versus the budget provision of N5.06 trillion.
According to the report, the figures indicated that 67.2 per cent of the federal government’s retained revenue of N18.63 trillion was spent on debt service in the first nine months of 2025. When the sinking fund is included, debt-related payments consumed about 67.8 per cent of revenue.
It was also observed that aggregate federal government revenue underperformed the budget by N12.03 trillion or 39.24 per cent, as actual revenue of N18.63 trillion fell short of the N30.67 trillion projected for the first three quarters.
In the third quarter alone, the government generated N7.70 trillion versus the quarterly target of N10.22 trillion as a result of persistent oil revenue shortfalls, despite stronger non-oil collections.
The debt burden also crowded out capital spending, as total capital expenditure was N3.10 trillion in the first nine months compared with the N17.58 trillion budgeted for the period, indicating that actual debt-related payments were more than four times capital expenditure.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a loss of 1.13 per cent on Thursday, June 4, shrinking the market capitalisation by N30.03 billion to N2.630 trillion from N2.660 trillion on Wednesday.
Similarly, this brought down the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 50.19 points to 4,396.08 points from the 4,446.27 points recorded a day earlier.
The loss was influenced by the overpowering of the bulls by the bears, after the bourse closed with two price gainers and three price losers, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which slumped by N20.03 to sell at N190.38 per unit compared with midweek’s N210.41 per unit. Food Concepts Plc declined by 25 Kobo to trade at N2.50 per share versus the previous day’s N3.00 per share, and Acorn Petroleum Plc crumbled by 2 Kobo to end at N1.32 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1.34 per unit.
For the gainers, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc added N2.93 to close at N78.34 per share compared with the previous price of N75.41 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 80 Kobo to settle at N16.80 per unit versus N16.00 per unit.
There was a slip in the volume of transactions yesterday by 46.8 per cent to 280,714 units from 527,221 units, as the value of trades dropped 66.5 per cent to N21.8 million from the preceding session’s N64.2 million, and the number of deals fell by 8.7 per cent to 42 deals from 46 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the session as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed 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 finished the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
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