Economy

US Stocks Likely to Maintain Upward Momentum

Published

6 years ago

27/11/2019

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a modestly higher opening on Wednesday, with stocks likely to extend the upward move seen over the past few sessions.

The markets may continue to benefit from optimism about a potential U.S.-China trade deal after President Donald Trump said trade talks are ?going very well.?

?We?re in the final throes of a very important deal ? I guess you could say, one of the most important deals in trade ever,? Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.

Trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday will keep some traders away from their desks.

The upcoming holiday has also pushed forward several U.S. economic reports, leading to an avalanche of data that may paint a mixed picture.

After ending Monday?s trading mostly higher, stocks saw some further upside during trading on Tuesday. With the continued upward move, the major averages once again reached new record closing highs.

The major averages ended the day modestly higher. The Dow rose 55.21 points or 0.2 percent to 28,121.68, the Nasdaq edged up 15.44 points or 0.2 percent to 8,647.93 and the S&P 500 inched up 6.88 points or 0.2 percent to 3,140.52.

The modest strength on Wall Street reflected recent upward momentum amid persistent optimism the U.S. and China will ultimately reach a trade agreement.

A statement from China’s Commerce Ministry revealed Chinese Vice Premier Liu He held a phone call with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin earlier today.

The statement said the two sides discussed how to resolve each other’s core concerns, reached consensus on how to resolve related issues, and agreed to maintain communication on the remaining issues in the first phase of agreement negotiations.

However, traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves, with some looking to get a head start on the Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday.

As if often the case nowadays, traders largely shrugged off the latest economic data, including a report from the Conference Board unexpectedly showing a continued drop in consumer confidence in November.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index fell to 125.5 in November from an upwardly revised 126.1 in October.

Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to inch up to 126.9 from the 125.9 originally reported for the previous month.

“Consumer confidence declined for a fourth consecutive month, driven by a softening in consumers’ assessment of current business and employment conditions,” said Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board.

“However, consumers’ short-term expectations improved modestly, and growth in early 2020 is likely to remain at around 2 percent,” she added. “Overall, confidence levels are still high and should support solid spending during this holiday season.”

A separate report from the Commerce Department showed new home sales pulled back from a significantly upwardly revised level in October.

The Commerce Department said new home sales fell by 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 733,000 in October after surging up by 4.5 percent to an upwardly revised rate of 738,000 in September.

Economists had expected new home sales to jump by 1.1 percent to a rate of 709,000 from the 701,000 originally reported for the previous month.

With the upward revision, new home sales in September were at their highest level since hitting 778,000 in July of 2007.

Gold stocks turned in some of the market’s best performances on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 2 percent. The strength in the gold sector came amid an increase by the price of the precious metal.

Considerable strength was also visible among commercial real estate and housing stocks, with the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index and the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index advancing by 1.4 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.

On the other hand, energy stocks moved sharply lower on the day despite an increase by the price of crude oil.

Reflecting the weakness in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index plunged by 2.5 percent and the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index tumbled by 2.3 percent.

Computer hardware and networking stocks also saw notable weakness on the day, helping to limit the upside for the broader markets.

Economy

Naira Trades N1,348/$1 as CBN Opens Official Market to BDC Operators

Published

2 hours ago

12/02/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, February 11, by N2.07 or 0.15 per cent to N1,348.95/$1 from N1,351.02/$1 as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) moved to further ease shortages and narrow the gap between the official and street rates.

The CBN approved the participation of licensed Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) as part of efforts to improve forex liquidity in the retail segment of the market and meet the legitimate needs of end users.

The apex bank capped the weekly FX purchases at $150,000, adding that utilisation complies with existing BDC operational guidelines.

In the same official market, the Nigerian currency gained N6.46 against the Pound Sterling to quote at N1,840.11/£1 versus N1,846.57/£1, and added N6.36 on the Euro to close at N1,600.13/€1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,606.49/€1.

At the GTBank FX counter, the Nigerian Naira gained N5 on the greenback to settle at N1,358/$1 versus the previous day’s N1,363/$1, but remained unchanged at N1,430/$1 in the black market.

Meanwhile, the digital currency market was bearish yesterday as traders sold their positions after digesting a more hawkish macro outlook.

Analysts mainly attributed the latest crypto selloff to shifting expectations around US macro policy, following a “hawkish shift” in Federal Reserve expectations after Kevin Warsh’s nomination as chairman of the US central bank, which signals tighter liquidity and fewer rate cuts ahead.

Traders will be watching key US labour market data for signs on the future path of interest rates and broader risk appetite.

Solana (SOL) shed 3.2 per cent to sell at $79.86, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 2.7 per cent to $1,958.44, Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 1.5 per cent to $67,540.62, Cardano (ADA) slid 1.5 per cent to $0.2579, Ripple (XRP) dipped 1.4 per cent to $1.37, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped 1.2 per cent to $609.73, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 1.2 per cent to $52.58, and Dogecoin (DOGE) crashed by 1.1 per cent to $0.0917, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.

Economy

Nigerian Stocks Near N115trn Valuation After Midweek’s 0.78% Rise

Published

2 hours ago

12/02/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The positive momentum witnessed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited lately continued on Wednesday after it further closed higher by 0.78 per cent.

More investors are showing interest in Nigerian stocks because of the recent bull run, leaving the market capitalisation to grow further by N880 billion yesterday to N114.377 trillion from N113.497 trillion, while the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,374.93 points to 178,184.35 points from 176,809.42 points.

Though the level of activity waned at midweek, data showed that it remained high, with a turnover of 939.2 million shares worth N34.0 billion in 61,279 deals compared with the 1.3 billion shares valued at N50.4 billion traded in 58,965 deals in the preceding session.

This showed that the trading volume went down by 27.75 per cent, and the trading value shrank by 32.54 per cent, while the number of deals jumped 3.92 per cent.

The busiest equity on Wednesday was Tantalizers with the sale of 85.3 million units worth N498.8 million, Access Holdings transacted 61.4 million units for N1.5 billion, Chams exchanged 38.6 million units valued at N174.1 million, Japaul sold 38.2 million units worth N89.5 million, and Deap Capital sold 36.8 million units valued at N314.1 million.

Fortis Global Insurance, Consolidated Hallmark, Nestle Nigeria, and Meyer all gained 10.00 per cent each to close at 33 Kobo, N4.95, N2,420.00, and N20.90 apiece, and CAP rose by 9.98 per cent to N99.20.

On the flip side, Honeywell Flour declined by 9.70 per cent to N22.80, Neimeth slipped by 9.15 per cent to N12.90, The Initiates crashed by 5.81 per cent to N19.45, RT Briscoe tumbled by 5.70 per cent to N14.40, and Sterling Holdings depreciated by 5.56 per cent to N7.65.

At the close of business, 49 stocks ended on the gainers’ table and 31 stocks finished on the losers’ chart, showing a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.

As for the performance of the bourse’s sectors, four of the five monitored by Business Post were in green, with the industrial goods down by 0.02 per cent due to profit-taking in Lafarge Africa.

The banking counter improved by 1.58 per cent, the insurance counter appreciated by 1.53 per cent, the consumer goods index gained 1.28 per cent, and the energy sector soared by 0.02 per cent.

Economy

Oil Prices Rise on Fresh Iran-US Tensions

Published

3 hours ago

12/02/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil prices gained about 1 per cent on Wednesday, as investors worried about escalating tensions between Iran and the United States, which were preparing to resume negotiations.

Brent crude oil futures chalked up 60 cents or 0.87 per cent to sell for $69.40 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures appreciated by 67 cents or 1.05 per cent to $64.63 per barrel.

US President Donald Trump said nothing definitive was decided during his meeting with the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, on Wednesday, but that negotiations with Iran toward a deal would continue.

On Tuesday, the American leader said he was considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East if a deal is not reached with Iran, even as both oil producers are prepared to resume talks.

US and Iranian diplomats held indirect talks last week in Oman, amid a regional naval buildup by the US threatening Iran. The date and venue of the next round of talks have yet to be announced.

After talks between US and Iranian teams in Oman on February 6, the US government imposed additional sanctions on Iran’s oil sector.

Meanwhile, Iran signalled readiness for nuclear verification while denying any intent to build weapons.

Also supporting oil prices was data showing that US job growth unexpectedly accelerated in January and the unemployment rate fell to 4.3 per cent, signalling a healthy economy.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) left its oil supply-demand expectations largely unchanged in its monthly report, but highlighted that global oil demand for the wider group’s crude will drop by 400,000 barrels per day in the second quarter compared to the first.

The OPEC+ group, comprising OPEC nations, plus other allies, began raising output last year after years of cuts, but paused production hikes in the first quarter of 2026 amid predictions of a glut. Eight OPEC+ members meet on March 1, where they are expected to decide whether to resume the hikes in April.

Crude oil inventories in the US increased by 8.5 million barrels during the week ending February 6, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday. The increase brings commercial stockpiles to 428.8 million barrels according to government data.

EIA’s data release followed earlier figures released by the American Petroleum Institute (API), which suggested that crude oil inventories rose by 13.4 million barrels.