Economy

US Stocks May Extend Upward Trend in Early Trading

Published

7 years ago

09/10/2017

By Investors Hub

The major US index futures are pointing to a higher on Monday, with stocks poised to extend the upward trend seen over the past several sessions.

The markets may benefit from recent upward momentum, which has helped drive the major averages to record highs.

Trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as some traders may be away from their desks due to the Columbus Day holiday.

With traders digesting the closely watched monthly jobs report, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Friday. The major averages eventually ended the day on opposite sides of the unchanged line.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up 4.82 points or 0.1 percent to a new record closing high of 6,590.18, the Dow edged down 1.72 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 22,773.67 and the S&P 500 dipped 2.74 points or 0.1 percent to 2,549.33.

Despite the mixed performance on the day, the major averages all posted strong gains for the week. The Dow surged up by 1.6 percent, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 jumped by 1.5 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

The mixed close came following the release of a report from the Labor Department showing an unexpected decrease in employment in the U.S. in the month of September.

The report said non-farm payroll employment fell by 33,000 jobs in September after climbing by an upwardly revised 169,000 jobs in August. Economists had expected employment to rise by 90,000 jobs.

The Labor Department said a sharp decline in employment in food services and drinking places and below-trend growth in some other industries likely reflected the impact of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

Despite the unexpected drop in employment, the unemployment rate dipped to 4.2 percent in September from 4.4 percent in August. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to hold at 4.4 percent.

With the unexpected decrease, the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since hitting a matching rate in February of 2001.

The report also showed a notable acceleration in the pace of wage growth, as average hourly employee earnings were up by 2.9 percent year-over-year in September compared to 2.5 percent in August.

Paul Ashworth, Chief U.S. Economist at Capital Economics, said the 0.5 percent monthly increase in wages came as many low-paid restaurant workers were temporarily out of a job.

“Overall, the Fed and the markets will just ignore this report,” Ashworth said. “If past-storms, particularly Katrina, are any guide, employment will rebound markedly over the next few months.”

He added, “The drop in the unemployment rate might persist, however, with consumer and small business surveys both pointing to a drop in the unemployment rate to nearer 4% for some time.”

Traders may have been reluctant to make significant moves following the recent upward trend, with the drop by the S&P 500 snapping an eight-day winning streak.

Most of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day, although energy stocks saw considerable weakness amid a steep drop by the price of crude oil.

Reflecting the weakness in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index slumped by 1.4 percent, the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index slid by 1.3 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil & Gas Index fell by 0.9 percent.

On the other hand, gold stocks showed a strong move to the upside, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 1.3 percent.

Economy

Afriland Properties Lifts NASD OTC Securities Exchange by 0.04%

Published

1 hour ago

11/12/2024

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Afriland Properties Plc helped the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange record a 0.04 per cent gain on Tuesday, December 10 as the share price of the property investment rose by 34 Kobo to N16.94 per unit from the preceding day’s N16.60 per unit.

As a result of this, the market capitalisation of the bourse went up by N380 million to remain relatively unchanged at N1.056 trillion like the previous trading day.

But the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) closed higher at 3,014.36 points after it recorded an addition of 1.09 points to Monday’s closing value of 3,013.27 points.

The NASD OTC securities exchange recorded a price loser and it was Geo-Fluids Plc, which went down by 2 Kobo to close at N3.93 per share, in contrast to the preceding day’s N3.95 per share.

During the trading session, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors increased by 95.8 per cent to 2.4 million units from the 1.2 million securities traded in the preceding session.

However, the value of shares traded yesterday slumped by 3.7 per cent to N4.9 million from the N5.07 million recorded a day earlier, as the number of deals surged by 27.3 per cent to 14 deals from 11 deals.

Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units sold for N3.9 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.5 million units worth N5.3 million.

Also, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units worth N89.2 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.5 million units sold for N5.3 billion.

Economy

Naira Trades N1,542/$1 as FX Speculators Dump Dollars in Panic

Published

2 hours ago

11/12/2024

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira continued to appreciate on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), gaining 0.7 per cent or N10.23 on Tuesday, December 10 to trade at N1,542.27/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,552.50/$1.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-backed Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) platform introduced to tackle speculation and improve transparency in Nigeria’s FX market has been attributed as the source of the Naira’s appreciation.

Speculators holding foreign currencies, particularly the US Dollar, have seen the value of their money drastically drop due to the appreciation of the local currency. This is forcing them to dump greenback into the system and take the domestic currency alternative- a move that has seen available FX increase.

Equally, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the trading day by N6.81 to sell for N1,955.12/£1 compared with Monday’s closing price of N1,961.93/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N10.84 to close at N1,613.00/€1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,623.84/€1.

Data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange showed that the value of forex transactions significantly increased yesterday by $228.85 million or 257.2 per cent to $401.17 million from the preceding session’s $112.32 million.

However, in the parallel market, the Nigerian currency weakened against the US Dollar on Tuesday by N5 to settle at N1,625/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,620/$1.

In the cryptocurrency market, Dogecoin (DOGE) lost 4.8 per cent to sell at $0.39116, Litecoin (LTC) depreciated by 3.3 per cent to trade at $110.25, Binance Coin (BNB) went south by 2.3 per cent to $681.44, Ethereum (ETH) dropped 1.6 per cent to finish at $3,671.08, and Cardano (ADA) slid by 0.5 per cent to $0.8837

Conversely, Ripple (XRP) jumped by 5.4 per cent to $2.23 amid a continued shift for the coin with its parent company seeing the benefits of a crypto-friendly regulatory environment for US-based companies.

XRP is closely related to Ripple Labs, a high-profile payments company targeted by the SEC in 2020 on allegations of selling the token as a security to U.S. investors. Ripple fully cleared a long-drawn court case in 2024.

Further, Solana (SOL) expanded by 0.8 per cent to $219.75, Bitcoin (BTC) grew by 0.4 per cent to $97,446.95, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.

Economy

Chinese Demand, Europe, Syria Development Buoy Oil Prices

Published

3 hours ago

11/12/2024

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil prices rose on Tuesday, influenced by increasing demand in China, the world’s largest buyer, as well as developments in Europe and Syria, with Brent crude futures closing at $72.19 per barrel after chalking up 5 cents or 0.07 per cent while the US West Texas Intermediate finished at $68.59 a barrel after it gained 22 cents or 0.32 per cent.

China will adopt an “appropriately loose” monetary policy in 2025 as the world’s largest oil importer tries to spur economic growth. This would be the first easing of its stance in 14 years.

Chinese crude imports also grew annually for the first time in seven months, jumping in November on a year-on-year basis.

Speculation about winter demand in Europe also contributed to the rise in prices as the period has been known for high demand.

In Syria, rebels were working to form a government and restore order after the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad, with the country’s banks and oil sector set to resume work on Tuesday.

Although Syria itself is not a major oil producer, it is strategically located and has strong ties with Russia and Iran – two of the world’s largest oil producers.

Market analysts noted that the tensions in the Middle East seem contained, which led market participants to price for potentially low risks of a wider regional spillover leading to significant oil supply disruption.

The market is also looking forward to the US Federal Reserve, which is expected to make a 25 basis point cut to interest rates at the end of its December 17-18 meeting.

This move could improve oil demand in the world’s biggest economy, though traders are waiting to see if this week’s inflation data derails the cut.

Crude oil inventories in the US rose by 499,000 barrels for the week ending November 29, according to The American Petroleum Institute (API). Analysts had expected a draw of 1.30 million barrels.

For the week prior, the API reported a 1.232-million barrel build in crude inventories.

So far this year, crude oil inventories have fallen by roughly 3.4 million barrels since the beginning of the year, according to API data.

Official data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released later on Wednesday.

Also, the market is getting relief from the recent decision of selected members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+ to delay the rollback of 2.2 million barrels per day of oil production cuts to April from January. Another 3.6 million barrels per day in output reductions across the OPEC+ group has been extended to the end of 2026 from the end of 2025.