Economy

Trump Postponing Tariff Hike Buoys Buying Interest

Published

6 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

FAAC Disburses 1.727trn to FG, States Local Councils in December 2024

Published

17 hours ago

14/12/2024

Modupe Gbadeyanka

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The federal government, the 36 states of the federation and the 774 local government areas have received N1.727 trillion from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) for December 2024.

The funds were disbursed to the three tiers of government from the revenue generated by the nation in November 2024.

At the December meeting of FAAC held in Abuja, it was stated that the amount distributed comprised distributable statutory revenue of N455.354 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N585.700 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N15.046 billion and Exchange Difference revenue of N671.392 billion.

According to a statement signed on Friday by the Director of Press and Public Relations for FAAC, Mr Bawa Mokwa, the money generated last month was about N3.143 trillion, with N103.307 billion used for cost of collection and N1.312 trillion for transfers, interventions and refunds.

It was disclosed that gross statutory revenue of N1.827 trillion was received compared with the N1.336 trillion recorded a month earlier.

The statement said gross revenue of N628.972 billion was available from VAT versus N668.291 billion in the preceding month.

The organisation stated that last month, oil and gas royalty and CET levies recorded significant increases, while excise duty, VAT, import duty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Companies Income Tax (CIT) and EMTL decreased considerably.

As for the sharing, FAAC disclosed that from the N1.727 trillion, the central government got N581.856 billion, the states received N549.792 billion, the councils took N402.553 billion, while the benefiting states got N193.291 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.

From the N585.700 billion VAT earnings, the national government got N87.855 billion, the states received N292.850 billion and the local councils were given N204.995 billion.

Also, from the N455.354 billion distributable statutory revenue, the federal government was given N175.690 billion, the states got N89.113 billion, the local governments had N68.702 billion, and the benefiting states received N121.849 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.

In addition, from the N15.046 billion EMTL revenue, FAAC shared N2.257 billion to the federal government, disbursed N7.523 billion to the states and transferred N5.266 billion to the local councils.

Further, from the N671.392 billion Exchange Difference earnings, it gave central government N316.054 billion, the states N160.306 billion, the local government areas N123.590 billion, and the oil-producing states N71.442 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.

Economy

Okitipupa Plc, Two Others Lift Unlisted Securities Market by 0.65%

Published

22 hours ago

14/12/2024

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.65 per cent gain on Friday, December 13, boosted by three equities admitted on the trading platform.

On the last trading session of the week, Okitipupa Plc appreciated by N2.70 to settle at N29.74 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N27.04 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc added N2.49 to end the session at N42.85 per unit compared with the previous day’s N40.36 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 50 Kobo to close at N16.30 per share, in contrast to the preceding session’s N15.80 per share.

Consequently, the market capitalisation added N6.89 billion to settle at N1.062 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.055 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gained 19.66 points to wrap the session at 3,032.16 points compared with 3,012.50 points recorded in the previous session.

Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors increased by 171.6 per cent to 1.2 million units from the 447,905 units recorded a day earlier, but the value of shares traded by the market participants declined by 19.3 per cent to N2.4 million from the N3.02 million achieved a day earlier, and the number of deals went down by 14.3 per cent to 18 deals from 21 deals.

At the close of business, Geo-Fluids Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 1.7 billion units worth N3.9 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with the sale of 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.3 million units sold for N5.3 million.

In the same vein, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 108.7 million units for N89.2 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with a turnover of 297.3 million units worth N5.3 billion.

Economy

Naira Trades N1,533/$1 at Official Market, N1,650/$1 at Parallel Market

Published

23 hours ago

14/12/2024

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira appreciated further against the United States Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N1.50 or 0.09 per cent to close at N1,533.00/$1 on Friday, December 13 versus the N1,534.50/$1 it was transacted on Thursday.

The local currency has continued to benefit from the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) this month.

The implementation of the forex system comes with diverse implications for all segments of the financial markets that deal with FX, including the rebound in the value of the Naira across markets.

The system instantly reflects data on all FX transactions conducted in the interbank market and approved by the CBN.

Market analysts say the publication of real-time prices and buy-sell orders data from this system has lent support to the Naira in the official market and tackled speculation.

In the official market yesterday, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling by N12.58 to wrap the session at N1,942.19/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,954.77/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N2.44 to close at N1,612.85/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,610.41/€1.

At the black market, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the greenback on Friday by N30 to sell for N1,650/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N1,680/$1.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was largely positive as investors banked on recent signals, including fresh support from US President-elect, Mr Donald Trump, as well as interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB).

Ripple (XRP) added 7.3 per cent to sell at $2.49, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 3.5 per cent to $728.28, Cardano (ADA) expanded by 2.4 per cent to trade at $1.11, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 2.3 per cent to $122.56, Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1.9 per cent to settle at $101,766.17, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $0.4064, Solana (SOL) soared by 0.7 per cent to $226.15 and Ethereum (ETH) advanced by 0.6 per cent to $3,925.35, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.