Economy

Trump Postponing Tariff Hike Buoys Buying Interest

Published

7 years ago

25/02/2019

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Monday, with positive developments on the trade front generating buying interest.

The upward momentum on Wall Street comes after President Donald Trump announced he intends to postpone a planned increase in U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports.

Trump said the decision to delay the tariff increase reflected ?substantial progress? in the ongoing trade talks between the U.S. and China.

The president said the U.S. and China have made progress on ?important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues.?

Assuming additional progress is made, Trump said he will be planning to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to conclude an agreement.

Trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the second summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

?With complete Denuclearization, North Korea will rapidly become an Economic Powerhouse,? Trump said on Twitter ahead of the summit. ?Without it, just more of the same. Chairman Kim will make a wise decision!

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell?s testimony before Congress in the coming days may also keep some traders on the sidelines.

Stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Friday, more than offsetting the moderate weakness seen on Thursday. With the upward move, the major averages reached their best closing levels in over three months.

The major averages fluctuated late in the session but ended the day firmly positive. The Dow climbed 181.18 points or 0.7 percent to 26,031.81, the Nasdaq jumped 67.84 points or 0.9 percent to 7,527.54 and the S&P 500 rose 17.79 points or 0.6 percent to 2,792.67.

For the holiday-shortened week, the Nasdaq advanced by 0.7 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 both climbed by 0.6 percent.

The strength on Wall Street came as traders continued to express optimism about ongoing trade talks between the U.S. and China.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin revealed later in the day that Chinese negotiators will extend their visit to Washington in an effort to build on the progress made during this week’s talks.

Mnuchin told reporters a meeting between Trump and Xi reportedly under discussion for next month may depend on the outcome of the next few days of negotiations.

Meanwhile, Trump said during a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu that U.S. and Chinese officials are making “a lot of progress” in the trade talks.

Trump said there was a “very good chance” the U.S. and China could reach a long-term trade deal but at the same time said “who knows” whether a final agreement will be struck.

A report from CNBC said China has committed to buying up to $1.2 trillion worth U.S. goods, although sources said the two sides remain far apart on issues concerning the forced transfer of intellectual property.

Trading activity was somewhat subdued, however, with a lack of major U.S. economic data keeping some traders on the sidelines.

A batch of disappointing U.S. economic data weighed on the markets on Thursday, although trade talk optimism helped limit the downside.

Tobacco stocks saw considerable strength on the day, extending the strong upward move seen in recent sessions. The NYSE Arca Tobacco Index surged up by 2.6 percent to its best closing level in well over three months.

Significant strength was also visible among computer hardware and networking stocks, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware and NYSE Arca Networking Index jumping by 2 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

Reflecting optimism about increased Chinese demand, steel stocks also turned in a strong performance, driving the NYSE Arca Steel Index up by 1.4 percent.

Biotechnology, software, and housing stocks also moved notably higher, while telecom stocks bucked the uptrend by the broader markets.

Economy

Shareholders Approve Fresh N30bn Capital Raise for Neimeth

Published

6 hours ago

30/06/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The board of Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc can raise an additional N30 billion from the capital market, shareholders have declared.

They gave the authorisation for this fresh capital raise at the company’s 67th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held virtually on Thursday, June 25, 2026.

This was one of the resolutions passed at the yearly shareholders’ gathering, attended by several persons, including board and management members as well as investors and others.

The approval for new capital raise is coming after the board was, on June 23, 2025, authorised to raise up to N20.0 billion. For this tranche, only N2.440 billion was raised by the organisation, leaving an untilised balance of approximately N17.560 billion.

The company has now been given the authority to get fresh N30.0 billion, according to disclosure from Neimeth.

In the notice to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, Neimeth said the board was asked to “raise additional capital of up to N30.0 billion through an issuance of shares (to be issued, whether by way of public offering, rights issue, private/special placement to strategic or identified investors), commercial papers, bonds, convertible and non-convertible securities), medium term notes and/or any other instruments, either as a stand-alone or by way of programmes, in such tranches, series or proportions, at such coupon or interest rates, within such maturity periods, or on such terms and conditions, through a combination of methods or processes, all of which shall be based on terms and conditions to be determined by the board and subject to obtaining the approvals of the relevant regulatory authorities.”

The shareholders resolved that “the aggregate shareholders’ approval for capital raising shall accordingly be N50.0 billion, of which approximately N2.440 billion has already been raised by way of rights issue, leaving an unutilised balance of approximately N47.560 billion available for raising.”

Economy

NASD OTC Sheds 0.36% as FrieslandCampina, Food Concepts Retreat

Published

8 hours ago

30/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The duo of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc and Food Concepts Plc helped root the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange in negative territory, following a 0.36 per cent slide on Monday, June 29.

FrieslandCampina, which is the maker of milk brands Peak Milk and Three Crowns, lost N13.44 to trade at N141.76 per unit compared with its previous price of N155.2o per unit, while Food Concepts, which is the parent company of fast food giant Chicken Republic, declined by 8 Kobo to end at N2.43 per share versus last Friday’s price of N2.51 per share.

Consequently, the NASD Security Index (NSI) slid by 15.51 points to 4,261.56 points from 4,277.07 points, and the market capitalisation lost N9.31 billion to close at N2.557 trillion compared with the previous value of N2.567 trillion.

The bourse finished with two price advancers yesterday, with Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc up by N3.80 to trade at N88.48 per unit versus N84.68 per unit, and Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc gaining 31 Kobo to end at N21.40 per share versus N21.09 per share.

The volume of securities traded by investors on the first trading day of the week contracted by 75.9 per cent to 229,314 units from the previous 955,096 units, and the value of securities slumped 17.8 per cent to N24.6 million from N29.9 million, while the number of deals increased by 9.7 per cent to 34 deals from the 31 deals recorded last Friday.

At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 68.7 million units transacted for N4.7 billion.

GNI Plc also closed the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc followed with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million

Economy

Naira Crashes to N1,383 Per Dollar at NAFEX

Published

9 hours ago

30/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Naira crashed against the United States Dollar by N2.70 0r 0.2 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, June 29, to N1,383.63/$1 from last Friday’s exchange rate of N1,380.93/$1.

This was influenced by FX pressure on the domestic currency, which also weakened its exchange rate against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment during the session by N6.06 to N1,831.64/£1 from the previous value of N1,824.90/£1. It also depleted the Nigerian currency against the Euro by 45 Kobo, trading at N1,578.03/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,577.58/€1.

However, it maintained stability against the greenback at the parallel market and the GTBank forex desk yesterday at N1,395/$1 and N1,387/$1, respectively.

Despite the pressure on the Naira, it is still trading within the expected range, as a result of ongoing FX reforms, stronger market liquidity, and increased transparency in the FX market.

Unlike in previous years, the improved stability is reflected in the relatively narrow spread between the official exchange rate and rates in the Bureau de Change (BDC) segment, suggesting that reforms introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are helping to improve price discovery and reduce distortions.

Also, Nigeria’s external reserves, which provide the apex bank with the capacity to support the Naira and meet the country’s external obligations, have continued to trend upward. Most recent data published on the apex bank’s website showed that reserves rose to $51.29 billion as of June 26, 2026.

In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) lost momentum after it dropped below $60,000, remaining under its 200-week moving average as currency markets swung following the Japanese Yen slipping to four-decade lows against the US Dollar.

Strategy, the largest public holder of bitcoin, plans to sell more than $1 billion of BTC as part of a $1.25 billion monetisation program, a sharp break from Michael Saylor’s long-held “never sell” stance. BTC traded at $59,463.89.

Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.9 per cent to $0.0723, TRON (TRX) slipped by 0.8 per cent to $0.3196, Cardano (ADA) dipped 0.2 per cent to $0.1446, and Ripple (XRP) dropped 0.1 per cent to close at $1.04.

On the flip side, Solana (SOL) gained 2.5 per cent to sell at $73.99, Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.4 per cent to $1,587.51, and Binance Coin (BNB) added 0.01 per cent to sell for $552.58, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.