Economy
US Stocks May Move Back to Upside in Early Trading
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Monday following the sell-off seen in the previous session.
Traders may look to pick up stocks at reduced levels despite lingering concerns about a potential trade war between the U.S. and China.
Stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading session on Friday, as trade war concerns once again resurfaced. After closing higher for three straight days, the major averages showed a substantial move back to the downside.
The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but still ended the day firmly in the red. The Dow plummeted 572.46 points or 2.3 percent to 23,932.76, the Nasdaq dove 161.44 to 6,915.11 and the S&P 500 plunged 58.37 points or 2.2 percent to 2,604.47.
With the sharp pullback on the day, the major averages closed lower for the week. The Nasdaq tumbled by 2.1 percent, the S&P 500 slumped by 1.4 percent and the Dow slid by 0.7 percent.
The sell-off on Wall Street came amid renewed trade war concerns after President Donald Trump threatened to impose $100 billion of additional tariffs on Chinese imports.
Trump noted in a statement on Thursday that the U.S. Trade Representative recently announced $50 billion in proposed tariffs on imports from China over intellectual-property violations.
China retaliated by announcing plans to impose a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion worth of U.S. exports, including aircraft, cars, and soybeans, which Trump called an effort to harm U.S. farmers and manufacturers.
“In light of China’s unfair retaliation, I have instructed the USTR to consider whether $100 billion of additional tariffs would be appropriate under section 301 and, if so, to identify the products upon which to impose such tariffs,” Trump said.
He added, “I have also instructed the Secretary of Agriculture, with the support of other members of my Cabinet, to use his broad authority to implement a plan to protect our farmers and agricultural interests.”
Responding to the threat from Trump, the Chinese government declared it would retaliate to new tariffs “with force and without hesitation.”
Negative sentiment was also generated by a report from the Labor Department showing U.S. job growth slowed by much more than anticipated in the month of March.
The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment rose by 103,000 jobs in March after spiking by an upwardly revised 326,000 jobs in February. Economists had expected an increase of about 193,000 jobs.
The report also said the unemployment rate came in at 4.1 percent in March, unchanged from the five previous months. The unemployment rate had been expected to edge down to 4.0 percent.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the annual rate of growth in average hourly employee earnings accelerated to 2.7 percent in March from 2.6 percent in February.
The major averages saw further downside as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell delivered remarks about the economic outlook at the Economic Club of Chicago.
Powell reiterated the belief that further gradual increases in interest rates will best promote the Fed’s goals of achieving maximum employment and stable prices.
Some traders had apparently been hoping Powell would signal a slower pace of rate hikes due to the recent volatility on Wall Street.
Biotechnology stocks turned in some of the market’s worst performances on the day, dragging the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index down by 3.2 percent. With the steep drop, the index tumbled to its lowest closing level in well over three months.
Considerable weakness was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 3.1 percent loss posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The index fell to a nearly two-month closing low.
The renewed trade war concerns also contributed to a sharp pullback by steel stocks, with the NYSE Arca Steel Index slumping by 3 percent after jumping by 2.8 percent on Thursday.
Transportation, financial, chemical, and energy stocks also moved notably lower, reflecting broad based weakness on Wall Street.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of MRS Oil and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.68 per cent on Friday, June 5.
MRS Plc lost N19.00 during the session to sell at N171.00 per share compared with Thursday’s value of N190.00 per share, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N8.70 to finish at N181.68 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N190.38 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation further lost N22.59 billion to close at N2.607 trillion versus the N2.630 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 37.76 points to settle at 4,358.32 points, in contrast to the previous day’s 4,396.08 points.
The alternative stock market closed the last trading day of this week with a price gainer, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gained 6 Kobo to quote at N78.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N78.34 per share. However, it could not prevent the market from going down at the close of business.
Yesterday, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors went down by 50.0 per cent to 140,345 units from the preceding day’s 280,714 units, the value of stocks decreased by 16.5 per cent to N17.9 million from the previous session’s N21.5 million, and the number of deals carried out by market participants fell by 35.7 per cent to 27 deals from the 42 deals recorded on Thursday.
When trading activities closed for the day, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
Renewed interest in financial stocks and others lifted the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 0.15 per cent on Friday.
Customs Street closed higher yesterday despite the 1.37 per cent loss recorded by the consumer goods sector as a result of profit-taking.
This was offset by gains in the other key sectors of the local bourse, as the insurance counter chalked up 1,14 per cent. The banking space appreciated by 0.90 per cent, the industrial goods segment grew by 0.46 per cent, and the energy sector expanded by 0.01 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 366.00 points to 242,593.31 points from 242,227.31 points, and the market capitalisation gained N235 billion to close at N155.594 trillion compared with the previous day’s N155.359 trillion.
The trio of International Energy Insurance, Abbey Mortgage Bank, and DAAR Communications improved by 10.00 per cent each yesterday to N7.26, N9.35, and N1.98, respectively, while Zichis advanced by 9.39 per cent to N32.38, with Sovereign Trust Insurance up by 8.70 per cent to N2.50.
On the flip side, Academy Press lost 9.84 per cent to quote at N8.25, University Press depreciated by 9.73 per cent to N5.10, Africa Prudential dipped by 2.63 per cent to N12.95, Chams crumbled by 2.44 per cent to N4.00, and International Breweries slipped by 1.59 per cent to N12.35.
Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive during the session after recording 37 appreciating equities and 14 depreciating equities, implying strong investor sentiment.
Abbey Mortgage Bank led the activity chart with a turnover of 164.1 million units worth N1.5 billion, Ellah Lakes sold 76.7 million units for N767.2 million, Access Holdings transacted 44.8 million units valued at N1.1 billion, Linkage Assurance exchanged 23.0 million units worth N41.2 million, and The Initiates traded 20.2 million units for N562.1 million.
At the close of trades, market participants transacted 608.5 million units worth N32.0 billion in 53,826 deals versus the 588.5 million units valued at N27.9 billion executed in 57,352 deals in the previous session. This showed that the number of deals eased by 6.15 per cent, the volume of transactions rose by 3.40 per cent, and the value of transactions soared by 14.70 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira further depreciated against the United States Dollar by N3.46 or 0.25 per cent to N1,362.21/$1 from N1,358.75/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 5.
However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window during the session by N4.47 to trade at N1,823.59/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,828.06/£1, and gained N7.00 against the Euro to sell at N1,574.58/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,581.58/€1.
For another trading session, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the Dollar in the parallel market and the GTBank forex counter on Friday at N1,375/$1 and N1,372/$1, respectively.
The Naira is expected to remain strong in the near term, backed by a rise in external reserves, which are nearing $50 billion, enhancing analysts’ confidence about its outlook in the second half of 2026.
Heightened global uncertainty has reduced the incentive for importers and corporates to demand FX, as cautious trade weighs on import needs. Analysts estimate a $40 billion net FX position for the year, a projection anchored in oil windfall gains.
As for the cryptocurrency market, prices remained depressed following a strong US jobs report that spurred markets to price in higher-for-longer interest rates, sending Treasury yields and the dollar up while hammering stocks, especially AI-related names. Crypto markets saw heavy leverage washouts with about $1.6 billion in positions liquidated over 24 hours.
Ethereum (ETH) gave up 4.9 per cent to trade at $1,584.68, Solana (SOL) fell by 3.3 per cent to $63.22, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 1.9 per cent to $61,333.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 1.8 per cent to $0.0821, and Ripple (XRP) moderated by 1.8 per cent to $1.09.
Further, TRON (TRX) dropped 1.6 per cent to sell at $0.3197, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.0 per cent to $581.18, and Cardano (ADA) declined by 0.4 per cent to $0.1589, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) gained 0.07 to sell at $0.9997, and US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $0.9998.
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