Economy

Upbeat Chinese Data May Generate Early Buying Interest

Published

7 years ago

01/04/2019

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Monday, with stocks likely to see further upside following the notable advance seen last week.

Early buying interest is likely to be generated by continued optimism about U.S.-China trade talks as well as upbeat Chinese manufacturing data.

Official data showed Chinese manufacturing activity unexpectedly grew for the first time in fourth months in March.

A private survey also showed the manufacturing sector in the world’s second biggest economy returning to growth.

Additionally, Beijing has announced that it will continue to suspend additional tariffs on U.S. vehicles and auto parts after April 1 as a gesture after Washington delayed tariff hikes on Chinese imports.

A delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is headed to Washington later this week for another round of trade talks.

The positive sentiment may partly be offset by the release of a Commerce Department report showing an unexpected decrease in U.S. retail sales in February, although the modest drop followed a significantly upwardly revised increase in sales in the previous month.

Stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Friday, adding to the gains posted last Thursday. The major averages moved higher at start of trading and saw further upside as the day progressed.

Eventually, the major averages ended the session just off their best levels of the day. The Dow advanced 211.22 points or 0.8 percent to 25,928.68, the Nasdaq climbed 60.16 points or 0.8 percent to 7,729.32 and the S&P 500 rose 18.96 points or 0.7 percent at 2,834.40.

The major averages also moved notably higher for the week. While the Dow surged up by 1.7 percent, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq jumped by 1.2 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.

The continued strength on Wall Street came amid optimism about the ongoing trade talks between the U.S. and China.

In a post on Twitter this morning, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin described the latest round of high-level U.S. trade talks as “constructive.”

Mnuchin also said he looks forward to welcoming China’s Vice Premier Liu He to continue the important discussions in Washington next week.

Optimism about the trade talks also contributed to a continued rebound by treasuries, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note continuing to recover after ending Wednesday’s trading at its lowest closing level since December of 2017.

On the U.S. economic front, a report released by the Commerce Department showed personal income in the U.S. increased by slightly less than anticipated in the month of February.

The report said personal income rose by 0.2 percent in February after edging down by 0.1 percent in January. Economists had expected personal income to climb by 0.3 percent.

Reflecting the continued impact of the recent government shutdown, the Commerce Department also released data on personal spending in January but not February.

Personal spending inched up by 0.1 percent in January after falling by 0.6 percent in December, while economists had expected spending to increase by 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, a separate Commerce Department report showed a much bigger than expected increase in U.S. new home sales in the month of February.

The Commerce Department said new home sales surged up by 4.9 percent to an annual rate of 667,000 in February from the revised January rate of 636,000. Economists had expected new home sales to increase by about 1.3 percent.

With the increase in February, new home sales are at their high level since hitting a rate of 672,000 last March and up 0.6 percent compared to the same month a year ago.

Computer hardware stocks turned in some of the market’s best performances on the day, resulting in a 2.4 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.

Significant strength was also visible among biotechnology stocks, with the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index surging up by 2 percent.

Optimism about the U.S.-China trade talks also contributed to the considerable strength in the steel sector, as reflected by the 1.6 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Steel Index.

Semiconductor, healthcare, and software stocks also saw notable strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

Economy

NASD Exchange Falls 0.22% After Investors Lose N4.8bn

Published

1 hour ago

29/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange weakened by 0.22 per cent on Tuesday, April 28, with the market capitalisation down by N4.8 billion to N2.420 trillion from N2.425 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) down by 9.01 points to 4,044.96 points from 4,053.97 points.

During the session, the price of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by N1.82 to N767.05 per share from N78.87 per share, while FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by N1.90 to N100.00 per unit from N98.10 per unit.

According to data, the value of trades increased by 265.7 per cent to N27.1 million from N7.4 million units, and the volume of transactions surged by 305.2 per cent to 1.3 million units from 319,831 units, while the number of deals decreased by 6.9 per cent to 27 deals from 29 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with the sale of 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.8 million units exchanged for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units traded for N1.9 billion.

GNI Plc also finished as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units sold for N1.2 billion.

Economy

Naira Crashes to N1,380/$ at Official Market, N1,390/$1 at Black Market

Published

1 hour ago

29/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Pressure is beginning to mount on the Nigerian Naira in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market despite an oil windfall triggered by the Middle East crisis.

On Monday, April 27, the domestic currency further weakened against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) by N16.47 or 1.2 per cent to N1,380.71/$1 from the previous day’s N1,364.24/$1.

It was not different against the Pound Sterling in the same market window, as it lost N16.04 to trade at N1,863.76/£1 versus Monday’s closing rate of N1,847.72/£1, and against the Euro, it slipped by N12.72 to close at N1,615.01/€1 versus N1,602.29/€1.

The Naira also depreciated against the Dollar at the black market yesterday by N5 to quote at N1,390/$1 compared with the previous price of N1,385, and at the GTBank forex counter, it further crashed by N9 to settle at N1,379/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,370/$1.

The continued decline of the Naira comes as traders increasingly seek other safe-haven currencies amid continued global disruptions.

The benefit awash in the global market is making foreign portfolio investors stay short in Nigerian markets. Despite this, the daily FX publication released showed that interbank turnover rose to $98.829 million across 78 deals, up from $76.65 million.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market remained cautious, with Bitcoin (BTC) trading at $77,216.66 despite surging oil prices and geopolitical tensions over a potential extended US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Analysts say the supply overhang has finally dried up, and the sellers who were spooked by macro shifts or quantum fears have already exited, leaving the market much thinner on the sell-side.

Investors will await decisions made by central banks this week. The US Federal Reserve will announce its rate decision later on Wednesday, while the European Central Bank (ECB) follows on Thursday.

Ethereum (ETH) gained 1.5 per cent to trade at $2,324.59, Dogecoin (DOGE) chalked up 1.4 per cent to sell for $0.1016, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 0.6 per cent to $84.85, Cardano (ADA) grew by 0.5 per cent to $0.2483, and Binance Coin (BNB) advanced by 0.2 per cent to $627.15.

However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 0.6 per cent to $0.3224, and Ripple (XRP) lost 0.03 per cent to sell at $1.39, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) were unchanged at $1.00 each.

Economy

Oil up 3% as Hormuz Disruption Outweighs UAE OPEC Exit

Published

2 hours ago

29/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil was up by nearly 3 per cent on Tuesday as persistent worries about supply constraints from the closed Strait of Hormuz continued, with Brent futures for June rising by $3.03 or 2.8 per cent to $111.26 a barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures growing by $3.56 or 3.7 per cent to $99.93 a barrel.

An earlier round of negotiations between the United States and Iran collapsed last week after face-to-face talks failed.

Ship-tracking data showed significant disruptions in the region, with six Iranian oil tankers forced to turn back due to the US blockade, but some traffic is still moving.

Prices trimmed some of the advances after the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the fourth-largest producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said on Tuesday it would exit the group on this Friday, May 1, 2026.

This dealt a blow to the oil-exporting group and its de facto leader, Saudi Arabia.

The UAE could quickly ⁠add between 1 million and 1.5 million barrels per day of output. However, with the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed, analysts said that there’s nowhere for that supply to go.

The UAE joined OPEC in 1967, but tension with Saudi Arabia over production quotas has been building for years.

Under the OPEC+ deal, the country has been held to roughly 3 million barrels per day while sitting on capacity above 4 million. It has been pushing toward 5 million barrels per day by 2027, and that target is hard to achieve with quotas built around someone else’s view of the market.

The war in Yemen broke whatever was left of diplomatic patience.

President Donald Trump said he was unhappy with the latest Iranian proposal to end the war. The proposal would avoid addressing the nuclear programme until hostilities cease and Gulf shipping disputes are resolved.

The Idemitsu Maru, ‌a Panama-flagged ⁠tanker carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi oil, and an LNG tanker managed by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) crossed the Strait on Tuesday, shipping data showed.

Vortexa data showed that the amount of crude oil held around the world on tankers that have been stationary for at least seven days rose to 153.11 million barrels as of April 24.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States fell by 1.79 million barrels in the week ending April 24. The official data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released later on Wednesday.