Economy
US Stocks May Experience Choppy Trading Early on
By Investors Hub
The major US index futures are pointing to a roughly flat open on Friday following the weakness seen in the previous session. The futures pulled back following the release of a report from the Commerce Department unexpectedly showing a steep drop in housing starts in the month of May.
Following the mixed performance seen on Wednesday, stocks moved mostly lower during trading on Thursday. The major averages regained ground after an early move to the downside but remained stuck in negative territory.
The Dow edged down 14.66 points or 0.1 percent to 21,359.90, the Nasdaq fell 29.39 points or 0.5 percent to 6,165.50 and the S&P 500 dipped 5.46 points or 0.2 percent to 2,432.46.
The weakness on Wall Street came as traders continued to digest the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates by a quarter point on Wednesday.
Traders were also reacting to a slew of U.S. economic data, including a report from the Labor Department showing a bigger than expected drop in initial jobless claims in the week ended June 10th.
The report said initial jobless claims fell to 37,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 245,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to drop to 242,000.
A separate report released by the Labor Department showed a bigger than expected drop in import prices in the month of May, reflecting a steep decline in prices for fuel imports.
The Labor Department said its import price index fell by 0.3 percent in May after rising by 0.2 percent in April. Economists had expected import prices to edge down by 0.1 percent.
The report also said export prices slid by 0.7 percent in May following a 0.2 percent increase in the previous month. Export prices had been expected to inch up by 0.1 percent.
Growth in Philadelphia-area manufacturing activity slowed in the month of June, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
The Philly Fed said its index for current manufacturing activity in the region decreased to 27.6 in June from 38.8 in May, although a positive reading still indicates growth. The index had been expected to drop to 24.0.
After reporting a contraction in regional manufacturing activity in the previous month, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a report showing a rebound in activity in the month of June.
The New York Fed said its general business conditions index shot up to 19.8 in June from a negative 1.0 in May, with a positive reading indicating growth in regional manufacturing activity. Economists had expected the index to rise to 4.0.
The Fed also released a report this morning showing that U.S. industrial production was unchanged in the month of May.
The Fed said industrial production was flat in May after jumping by 1.1 percent in April. Economists had expected production to rise by 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, homebuilder confidence in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in the month of June, according to a report released by the National Association of Home Builders on Thursday.
The report said the NAHB /Wells Fargo Housing Market Index dropped to 67 in June from 69 in May. The decrease surprised economists, who had expected the index to inch up to 70.
Steel stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Steel Index down by 2.6 percent.
Energy, gold and retail stocks also saw considerable weakness on the day, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The federal government, the 36 states of the federation and the 774 local government areas have received N1.727 trillion from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) for December 2024.
The funds were disbursed to the three tiers of government from the revenue generated by the nation in November 2024.
At the December meeting of FAAC held in Abuja, it was stated that the amount distributed comprised distributable statutory revenue of N455.354 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N585.700 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N15.046 billion and Exchange Difference revenue of N671.392 billion.
According to a statement signed on Friday by the Director of Press and Public Relations for FAAC, Mr Bawa Mokwa, the money generated last month was about N3.143 trillion, with N103.307 billion used for cost of collection and N1.312 trillion for transfers, interventions and refunds.
It was disclosed that gross statutory revenue of N1.827 trillion was received compared with the N1.336 trillion recorded a month earlier.
The statement said gross revenue of N628.972 billion was available from VAT versus N668.291 billion in the preceding month.
The organisation stated that last month, oil and gas royalty and CET levies recorded significant increases, while excise duty, VAT, import duty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Companies Income Tax (CIT) and EMTL decreased considerably.
As for the sharing, FAAC disclosed that from the N1.727 trillion, the central government got N581.856 billion, the states received N549.792 billion, the councils took N402.553 billion, while the benefiting states got N193.291 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
From the N585.700 billion VAT earnings, the national government got N87.855 billion, the states received N292.850 billion and the local councils were given N204.995 billion.
Also, from the N455.354 billion distributable statutory revenue, the federal government was given N175.690 billion, the states got N89.113 billion, the local governments had N68.702 billion, and the benefiting states received N121.849 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
In addition, from the N15.046 billion EMTL revenue, FAAC shared N2.257 billion to the federal government, disbursed N7.523 billion to the states and transferred N5.266 billion to the local councils.
Further, from the N671.392 billion Exchange Difference earnings, it gave central government N316.054 billion, the states N160.306 billion, the local government areas N123.590 billion, and the oil-producing states N71.442 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.65 per cent gain on Friday, December 13, boosted by three equities admitted on the trading platform.
On the last trading session of the week, Okitipupa Plc appreciated by N2.70 to settle at N29.74 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N27.04 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc added N2.49 to end the session at N42.85 per unit compared with the previous day’s N40.36 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 50 Kobo to close at N16.30 per share, in contrast to the preceding session’s N15.80 per share.
Consequently, the market capitalisation added N6.89 billion to settle at N1.062 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.055 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gained 19.66 points to wrap the session at 3,032.16 points compared with 3,012.50 points recorded in the previous session.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors increased by 171.6 per cent to 1.2 million units from the 447,905 units recorded a day earlier, but the value of shares traded by the market participants declined by 19.3 per cent to N2.4 million from the N3.02 million achieved a day earlier, and the number of deals went down by 14.3 per cent to 18 deals from 21 deals.
At the close of business, Geo-Fluids Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 1.7 billion units worth N3.9 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with the sale of 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.3 million units sold for N5.3 million.
In the same vein, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 108.7 million units for N89.2 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with a turnover of 297.3 million units worth N5.3 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated further against the United States Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N1.50 or 0.09 per cent to close at N1,533.00/$1 on Friday, December 13 versus the N1,534.50/$1 it was transacted on Thursday.
The local currency has continued to benefit from the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) this month.
The implementation of the forex system comes with diverse implications for all segments of the financial markets that deal with FX, including the rebound in the value of the Naira across markets.
The system instantly reflects data on all FX transactions conducted in the interbank market and approved by the CBN.
Market analysts say the publication of real-time prices and buy-sell orders data from this system has lent support to the Naira in the official market and tackled speculation.
In the official market yesterday, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling by N12.58 to wrap the session at N1,942.19/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,954.77/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N2.44 to close at N1,612.85/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,610.41/€1.
At the black market, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the greenback on Friday by N30 to sell for N1,650/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N1,680/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was largely positive as investors banked on recent signals, including fresh support from US President-elect, Mr Donald Trump, as well as interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB).
Ripple (XRP) added 7.3 per cent to sell at $2.49, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 3.5 per cent to $728.28, Cardano (ADA) expanded by 2.4 per cent to trade at $1.11, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 2.3 per cent to $122.56, Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1.9 per cent to settle at $101,766.17, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $0.4064, Solana (SOL) soared by 0.7 per cent to $226.15 and Ethereum (ETH) advanced by 0.6 per cent to $3,925.35, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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