Economy

US Shares Open Lower on Global Economic Concerns

Published

7 years ago

22/01/2019

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Tuesday, with stocks likely to give back ground following the rally seen last week.

Concerns about the global economy are likely to weigh on the markets after the International Monetary Fund said the global expansion is weakening at a rate that is somewhat faster than expected.

The IMF lowered its forecasts for global economic growth to 3.5 percent in 2019 and 3.6 percent in 2020, 0.2 and 0.1 percentage points below last October?s projections.

An escalation of trade tensions and a worsening of financial conditions are key sources of risk to the outlook, the IMF said.

The IMF also expressed concerns about a bigger than expected slowdown in Chinese growth, the Brexit cliffhanger, and the ongoing U.S. government shutdown.

In remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Monday, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde noted risks to the global economy are increasingly intertwined.

?Think of how higher tariffs and rising uncertainty over future trade policy fed into lower asset prices and higher market volatility,? Lagarde said. ?This in turn contributed to tightening financial conditions, including for advanced economies, which is a major risk factor in a world of high debt burdens. ?

?Does that mean that a global recession is around the corner? The answer is ?no,?? she added. ?But the risk of a sharper decline in global growth has certainly increased.?

Extending the upward trend seen over the past several sessions, stocks moved sharply higher during the trading day on Friday. With the continued advance, the major averages reached their best closing levels in well over a month.

The major averages ended the day firmly in positive territory. The Dow soared 336.25 points or 1.4 percent to 24,706.35, the Nasdaq jumped 72.76 points or 1 percent to 7,157.23 and the S&P 500 surged up 34.75 points or 1.3 percent to 2,670.71.

Reflecting the four-day winning streak, the major averages moved substantially higher for the week. The Dow spiked by 3 percent, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 shot up by 2.7 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively.

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

Adding to the positive sentiment, a report from Bloomberg News said China has offered to go on a six-year buying spree to ramp up imports from the U.S.

An official familiar with the negotiations told Bloomberg that China would seek to reduce its trade surplus with the U.S. by increasing annual goods imports by a combined value of more than $1 trillion.

The Bloomberg report came on the heels of yesterday’s Wall Street Journal report indicating the U.S. is considering lifting tariffs on Chinese goods.

The Wall Street Journal report on Thursday said the U.S. is weighing easing tariffs in an effort to calm markets and give China an incentive to make deeper concessions.

People close to internal deliberations told the Journal that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin proposed the idea of lifting some or all tariffs in a series of strategy meetings.

The people said the aim of easing the tariffs is to advance trade talks and win China’s support for longer-term reforms.

The positive news on trade overshadowed a report from the University of Michigan showing a substantial deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of January.

The preliminary report said the consumer sentiment index plummeted to 90.7 in January from the final December reading of 98.3. Economists had expected the index to dip to 97.0.

With the much steeper than expected drop, the consumer sentiment index tumbled to its lowest level since hitting 87.2 in October of 2016.

“Consumer sentiment declined in early January to its lowest level since Trump was elected,” said Surveys of Consumers chief economist Richard Curtin. “The decline was primarily focused on prospects for the domestic economy, with the year-ahead outlook for the national economy judged the worst since mid 2014.”

He added, “The loss was due to a host of issues including the partial government shutdown, the impact of tariffs, instabilities in financial markets, the global slowdown, and the lack of clarity about monetary policies.”

Meanwhile, a separate report from the Federal Reserve showed industrial production increased by slightly more than expected in December, as jumps in manufacturing and mining output more than offset a sharp pullback in utilities output.

The Fed said industrial production rose by 0.3 percent in December after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.4 percent in November.

Economists had expected industrial production to edge up by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.6 percent advance originally reported for the previous month.

Oil service stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading session, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 3.8 percent to its best intraday level in well over a month. The rally by oil service stocks came amid a significant increase by the price of crude oil.

Substantial strength was also visible among transportation stocks, as reflected by the 2.6 percent spike by the Dow Jones Transportation Average.

Trucking company J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT) posted a standout gain after reporting better than expected fourth quarter results.

Computer hardware stocks also showed a significant move to the upside, resulting in a 2.6 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.

Semiconductor, tobacco, banking, and networking stocks also moved notably higher, reflecting broad based buying interest.

Economy

Seven Equities Buoy NASD OTC Securities Exchange by 0.73%

Published

1 hour ago

14/01/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Seven price gainers triggered a 0.73 per cent appreciation in the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Tuesday, January 13.

The advancers were led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which added N5.06 to its value to close at N75.00 per unit versus the preceding day’s N68.70 per unit, followed by MRS Oil Plc, with a price appreciation of N5.06 to sell at N200.00 per share compared with the previous session’s N194.94 per share, and Air Liquide expanded by N1.00 to settle at N14.00 per unit versus N13.00 per unit.

Further, Food Concepts Plc climbed by 31 Kobo to N3.37 per share from N3.06 per share, IPWA Plc appreciated by 11 Kobo to N1.23 per unit from N1.12 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc grew by 6 Kobo to N6.90 per share from N6.84 per share, and Acorn Petroleum Plc grew by 1 Kobo to end at N1.29 per unit versus Monday’s closing price of N1.28 per unit.

The gains recorded by these seven securities raised the market capitalisation by N15.95 billion to N2.2 trillion from the preceding session’s N2.184 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) added 26.65 points to close at 3,678.13 points compared to 3,651.48 points.

Business Post reports that three stocks she weight yesterday, with Afriland Properties Plc down by N1.49 to N14.73 per share from N16.22 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by 64 Kobo to N40.13 per unit from N40.77 per unit, and UBN Property Plc lost 1 Kobo to close at N2.05 per share versus N2.06 per share.

Yesterday, the number of deals executed soared by 39.6 per cent to 67 deals from 48 deals, the total value of transaction surged by 84.1 per cent to N86.1 million from N46.8 million, while the volume of trades shrank by 59.6 million to 1.6 million units from 4.03 million units.

CSCS Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 2.0 million units sold for N81.4 million, trailed by MRS Oil Plc with 265,697 units worth N53.1 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 6.4 million units traded for N43.4 million.

By volume, Geo-Fluids Plc topped the chart with 6.4 million units valued at N43.4 million, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 3.1 million units transacted for N1.9 million, and CSCS Plc with 2.0 million units valued at N81.4 million.

Economy

Naira Now N1,419/$1 at Official Forex Market

Published

1 hour ago

14/01/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Naira further appreciated against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, January 13 by N1.80 or 0.13 per cent to N1,419.66/$1 from Monday’s N1,421.46/$1.

This was boosted by an inject of $50 million into the official forex market by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in an effort to defend the local currency.

At the same spot market, the Nigerian currency improved its rate against the Pound Sterling during the session by N1.86 to close at N1,913.98/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,915.84/£1 and gained N5.09 on the Euro to settle at N1,656.59/€1, in contrast to the N1,661.68/€1 it was transacted a day earlier.

At the parallel market and the GTBank FX counter, the Naira maintained stability against the DOllar yesterday at N1,490/$1 and N1,431/$1, respectively.

Market analysts have noted that proper CBN support, stronger external inflows from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), improving current account dynamics, and more disciplined FX management will give the Naira stronger footing in the near term, with threats coming from externalities.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was elevated on Tuesday as US inflation eased and political uncertainty around the Federal Reserve increased demand for non-sovereign assets.

Ease in US inflation data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue cutting rates this year. Lower inflation eased pressure on bond yields and improved liquidity conditions, a setup that has historically favored crypto and other risk assets.

Also, reports that the US Justice Department had served grand jury subpoenas on the Federal Reserve earlier this week unsettled markets and weakened the Dollar, boosting the appeal of assets viewed as insulated from central bank risk.

Cardano (ADA) surged by 7.5 per cent to $0.4206, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 6.2 per cent to $3,321.77, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 5.8 per cent to $0.1472, Ripple (XRP) rose by 3.9 per cent to $2.14, Binance Coin (BNB) expanded by 3.1 per cent to $936.96, Litecoin (LTC) jumped by 3.1 per cent to $78.58, Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 2.9 per cent to $94,662.42, and Solana (SOL) soared by 1.6 per cent to $144.03, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.

Economy

NGX All-Share Index Cross 165,000 points as Market Cap Now N106trn

Published

4 hours ago

14/01/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The bulls have refused to leave the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited as they further lifted the market by 1.59 per cent on Tuesday on the back of continued bargain-hunting.

The bourse recorded a significant rise yesterday as a result of the gains posted by some large-cap equities, including MTN Nigeria and others.

The sterling performance was across the key sectors of Customs Street, except the insurance counter, which went down by 0.06 per cent due to mild profit-taking.

However, the banking segment appreciated by 1.33 per cent, the consumer goods index soared by 0.74 per cent, the energy index grew by 0.39 per cent, the industrial goods space gained 0.10 per cent, and the commodity landscape improved by 0.01 per cent.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) moved up by 2,592.63 points to 165,837.32 points from 163,244.69 points and the market capitalisation increased by N1.661 trillion to N106.182 trillion from N104.521 trillion.

Caverton, PZ Cussons, Deap Capital, eTranzact, and MTN Nigeria all gained 10.00 per cent during the session to settle at N7.70, N58.30, N3.63, N18.15, and N605.00, respectively.

However, Universal Insurance lost 6.25 per cent to close at N1.20, Prestige Assurance declined by 5.81 per cent to N1.62, Regency Alliance slumped by 5.17 per cent to N1.10, Academy Press depreciated by 5.06 per cent to N7.50, and Royal Exchange dropped 3.98 per cent to sell for N1.93.

A total of 55 stocks ended on the advancers’ log and 13 stocks finished on the laggards’ end, indicating a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.

The activity level was mixed, with the trading value up by 75.00 per cent to N33.6 billion from N19.2 billion.

But the trading volume was slightly down by 8.33 per cent to 1.1 billion shares from the 1.2 billion shares recorded a day earlier, as the number of deals decreased by 17.09 per cent to 49,216 deals from 59,359 deals.

For another trading day, Sovereign Trust Insurance led the activity chart with the sale 343.5 million units shares worth N1.1 billion, Access Holdings traded 86.2 million equities valued at N2.0 billion, eTranzact transacted 61.1 million stocks worth N1.1 billion, Linkage Assurance exchanged 49.9 million shares valued at N88.0 million, and Chams pulled a turnover of 35.4 million equities for N139.2 million.