Economy

Unexpected Decline in Retail Sales Weigh on Wall Street

Published

7 years ago

15/05/2019

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Wednesday, with stocks likely to move back to the downside following the rebound seen in the previous session.

A report from the Commerce Department showing an unexpected pullback in U.S. retail sales in the month of April may weigh on the markets in early trading.

Meanwhile, a separate report from the New York Federal Reserve showed an unexpected acceleration in the pace of growth in regional manufacturing activity.

Disappointing Chinese data may also generate some negative sentiment along with lingering concerns about the escalating U.S.-China trade dispute.

Following the sell-off seen on Monday, stocks showed a notable move back to the upside during the trading day on Tuesday. With the rebound, the Dow bounced off its lowest closing level in three months.

The major averages gave back ground going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Dow advanced 207.06 points or 0.8 percent to 25,532.05, the Nasdaq jumped 87.47 points or 1.1 percent to 7,734.49 and the S&P 500 climbed 22.54 points or 0.8 percent to 2,834.41.

Bargain hunting contributed to the rebound on Wall Street, with traders picking up stocks at reduced levels following the steep drop seen in Monday.

The markets also benefited from continued optimism the U.S. and China will eventually reach a trade deal despite the retaliatory tariffs announced by China.

President Donald Trump has continued to express confidence the Chinese will yield to U.S. demands, claiming a trade agreement was 95 percent complete before China reneged.

Trump has repeatedly argued that the U.S. is in a stronger position than China in the negotiations, citing the recent strength of the U.S. economy.

“If you looked at the first quarter ? which is always, historically, the worst quarter ? we were at 3.2 percent. People were very surprised,” Trump told reporters on Monday.

“Well, a lot of that was the tariffs that we were taking in from China,” he added. “So we’re in a very good position and I think it’s only going to get better.”

Trump also indicated that he would be meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit in Japan late next month.

“We have a very good relationship. Maybe something will happen,” Trump said. “But we’re going to be meeting, as you know, at the G20 in Japan. And that will be, I think, probably, a very fruitful meeting.”

Oil service stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading session, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 3.1 percent. The index ended the previous session at its lowest closing level in over four months.

The rebound by oil service stocks came as the price of crude oil for June delivery increased on news of a drone attack on two oil pumping stations in Saudi Arabia.

Bargain hunting also contributed to considerable strength among semiconductor stocks, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging up by 2.4 percent after plunging by 4.7 percent on Monday.

Substantial strength was also visible among natural gas stocks, as reflected by the 2.2 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index. An increase by the price of natural gas is contributing to the strength in the sector.

Semiconductor stocks are also seeing considerable strength after turning in some of the market’s worst performances on Monday, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging up by 2.2 percent.

Tobacco, steel, biotechnology and software stocks also saw notable strength on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

Economy

11 Plc, FrieslandCampina, CSCS Lift NASD Exchange by 1.38%

Published

1 day ago

04/07/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Three securities lifted the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.38 per cent on Friday, July 3, with the NASD Security Index (NSI) up by 58.80 points to 4,307.26 points from 4,248.46 points, and the market capitalisation closing higher by N35.30 billion to N2.585 trillion from N2.549 trillion.

The price gainers were led by 11 Plc, which expanded by N20.05 to close at N220.55 per share compared with the previous day’s N200.50 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc increased by N5.36 to N151.82 per unit from N146.46 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc appreciated by N3.52 to N90.74 per share from N87.22 per share.

Yesterday, the value of transactions surged by 1,431.2 per cent to N160.1 million from the preceding session’s N10.5 million, and the volume of trades rose by 303.7 per cent to 1.8 million units from 440,653 units, while the number of deals decreased by 34.4 per cent to 21 deals from 32 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 70.7 million units transacted for N4.9 billion.

GNI Plc was also 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 traded for N415.7 million.

Economy

Nigerian Stocks Rebound by 2.19% to Halt Losing Streak

Published

1 day ago

04/07/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The losing streak on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was halted on Friday after the bourse closed higher by 2.19 per cent at the close of trading activities.

The gains reported by Nigerian stocks were buoyed by renewed bargain-hunting by investors, which resulted in all the key sectors of Customs Street ended in the green territory.

The banking space rose by 2.78 per cent, the insurance counter appreciated by 1.26 per cent, the energy segment expanded by 0.36 per cent, the consumer goods index chalked up 0.06 per cent, and the industrial goods sector grew by 0.05 per cent.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 4,918.37 points to 229,240.34 points from 224,321.97 points, and the market capitalisation increased by N3.156 trillion to N147.103 trillion from N143.947 trillion.

Investor sentiment was bullish after 34 stocks ended on the price gainers’ chart and 18 stocks finished on the losers’ log, representing a positive market breadth index.

The quintet of The Initiates, Universal Insurance, DAAR Communications, Omatek, and Airtel Africa surged by 10.00 per cent to sell for N25.85, 88 Kobo, N1.65, N1.76, and N5,274.00, respectively.

On the flip side, International Energy Insurance lost 9.96 per cent to trade at N4.70, Meyer shed 9.95 per cent to close at N18.55, Veritas Kapital dropped 5.07 per cent to finish at N1.31, Fidelity Bank slipped by 2.17 per cent to N18.00, and Jaiz Bank crashed by 1.84 per cent to N28.12.

During the session, a total of 414.7 million equities worth N25.1 billion exchanged hands in 47,106 deals compared with the 855.4 million equities valued at N28.4 billion transacted in the preceding day in 51,609 deals, implying a contraction in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 51.52 per cent, 11.62 per cent, and 8.73 per cent, respectively.

Economy

Naira Trades Flat at Official Market as CBN Makes Minimal FX Intervention

Published

1 day ago

04/07/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira closed flat against the United States Dollar at N1,370.19/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, July 3.

However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment by N2.29 to settle at N1,829.88/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,832.17/£1, and marginally depreciated against the Euro by 4 Kobo to close at N1,568.32/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,568.28/€1.

At the parallel market, the Naira also traded flat against the US Dollar at N1,390/$1, and at the GTBank forex desk, it also maintained stability at N1,832/$1.

Market conditions improved shortly after the following minimal intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through modest Dollar sales, which boosted liquidity and supported stronger trading activity.

Easing pressure came after half-year profit-taking tapered down, while continued stronger policy signals from the central bank add to near-term support.

Deals executed at the official market on Friday came in at $70.430 million across 82 interbank deals, from $85.517 million the previous day.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market continued its recovery after June non-farm payrolls printed at 57,000, less than half the 113,000 consensus, sending the implied probability of a September Federal Reserve rate hike from 64 per cent to 54 per cent and dragging AI stocks sharply lower.

Weak labour data reduces inflationary pressure and, by extension, the Federal Reserve’s justification for holding rates elevated. That transmission mechanism is direct: lower rate-hike odds compress the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like crypto.

Bitcoin regained the $62,000 mark after it rose by 1.3 per cent to $62,475.29.

Cardano (ADA) gained 6.6 per cent to trade at $0.1759, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.5 per cent to $1.14, Ethereum (ETH) expanded by 2.4 per cent to $1,756.82, Dogecoin (DOGE) improved by 2.1 per cent to $0.0768, Solana (SOL) chalked up 1.8 per cent to $82.65, TRON (TRX) increased by 1.5 per cent to $0.3235, and Binance Coin (BNB) soared by 1.4 per cent to $569.12, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.