Economy
Upbeat Jobs Data May Add To Interest Rate Concerns
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Friday, with stocks likely to come under pressure following the mixed performance seen in the previous session.
Concerns about higher interest rates may weigh on Wall Street after the Labor Department released a report showing stronger than expected job growth and a jump in wages.
“Given companies such as WalMart have credited Trump’s tax cuts as a way for them to afford higher worker pay we suspect we will see the wage numbers pick-up further,” said James Knightley, Chief International Economist at ING.
He added, “Consequently, it will need a big shock to prevent the Fed from hiking in March, but it could happen in the form of a damaging government shutdown should politicians fail to resolve their differences.”
Following the modest rebound seen on Wednesday, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Thursday. The major averages spent much of the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.
Eventually, the major averages ended the session mixed. While the Dow inched up 37.32 points or 0.1 percent to 26,186.71, the Nasdaq fell 25.62 points or 0.4 percent to 7,385.86 and the S&P 500 edged down 1.83 points or 0.1 percent to 2,821.98.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the closely watched monthly jobs report.
Earnings reports due after the close of trading from Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN) and Apple (AAPL) may also have kept traders on the sidelines.
On the U.S. economic front, a report released by the Labor Department unexpectedly showed a modest decrease in labor productivity in the fourth quarter, although the report also showed a sharp jump in labor costs.
The report said labor productivity edged down by 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter after surging up by a revised 2.7 percent in the third quarter. Economists had expected productivity to climb by 1.0 percent.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said unit labor costs spiked by 2.0 percent in the fourth quarter after slipping by a revised 0.1 percent in the third quarter. Labor costs were expected to increase by 0.8 percent.
A separate report from the Labor Department showed a slight drop in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended January 27th.
The report said initial jobless claims edged down to 230,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 231,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 238,000.
The Institute for Supply Management also released a report showing a modest slowdown in the pace of growth in manufacturing activity in the month of January.
The ISM said its purchasing managers index edged down to 59.1 in January from 59.3 in December, although a reading above 50 still indicates growth in the manufacturing sector. Economists had expected the index to dip to 58.8.
Commercial real estate stocks showed a significant move to the downside on the day, resulting in a 2.2 percent slump by the Morgan Stanley REIT Index. With the drop, the index ended the session at its lowest closing level in over a year.
The weakness in the commercial real estate sector likely reflected concerns about the impact of higher interest rates.
Considerable weakness also emerged among retail stocks, as reflected by the 1.7 percent loss posted by the Dow Jones Retail Index.
Alibaba (BABA) posted a steep loss after the China-based online retail giant reported fiscal third quarter earnings that missed expectations.
Utilities and chemical stocks also moved notably lower, while substantial strength was visible among oil service and brokerage stocks.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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