Economy
US Stocks May Regain Ground After Previous Day’s Sell-off
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Thursday, with stocks likely to regain ground following the sell-off seen in the previous session.
Bargain hunting may contribute to initial strength on Wall Street, with traders picking up stocks at reduced levels after the major averages ended Wednesday?s trading at multi-month closing lows.
A positive reaction to earnings news from big-name companies such as Microsoft (MSFT) and Twitter (TWTR) may also generate buying interest after disappointing earnings news weighed on the markets in the previous session.
Traders may be somewhat reluctant to get back into the markets following recent volatility, however, with lingering concerns about geopolitical tensions and global economic growth leading to continued uneasiness.
Following Tuesday?s attempted recovery from an early sell-off, stocks showed a substantial move back to the downside during trading on Wednesday. The Dow dropped to its lowest closing level in over three-months, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 tumbled to five-month closing lows.
The major averages saw further downside going into the close, ending the day just off their lows of the session. The Dow plunged 608.01 points or 2.4 percent to 24,583.42, the Nasdaq nosedived 329.14 points or 4.4 percent to 7,108.40 and the S&P 500 plummeted 84.59 points or 3.1 percent to 2,656.10.
The renewed selling pressure on Wall Street largely reflected another negative reaction to the latest batch of earnings news from several big-name companies.
Shares of AT&T (T) moved substantially lower after the telecom giant reported third quarter earnings that came in below analyst estimates.
Delivery giant UPS (UPS) also fell sharply after reporting third quarter earnings that matched estimates but weaker than expected revenues.
On the other hand, shares of Boeing (BA) moved to the upside after the aerospace giant reported better than expected third quarter results and raised its full-year guidance.
Negative sentiment was also generated by the release of a report from the Commerce Department showing a steep drop in new home sales in the month of September.
The report said new home sales plunged by 5.5 percent to an annual rate of 553,000 from the revised August rate of 585,000.
Economists had expected new home sales to edge down to a rate of 625,000 from the 629,000 originally reported for the previous month.
With the substantial decrease, new home sales fell to their lowest level since hitting a rate of 546,000 in December of 2016.
News explosive devices were sent to several prominent Democratic figures, including former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, as well as CNN may also have led to some uneasiness 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 7.2 percent to its lowest closing level in well over five months.
Within the biotech sector, Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) posted a steep loss despite reporting better than expected third quarter earnings and raising its full-year guidance.
Substantial weakness was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 6.6 percent slump by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The index tumbled to its lowest closing level in a year.
Texas Instruments (TXN) led the semiconductor sector lower after the chipmaker reported weaker than expected third quarter revenues and provided disappointing fourth quarter guidance.
Energy stocks also saw considerable weakness despite an increase by the price of crude oil, moving notably lower along steel, software, and computer hardware stocks.
Meanwhile, interest rate-sensitive utilities stocks were among the few groups to buck the downtrend, resulting in a 2.3 percent jump by the Dow Jones Utility Average. The average reached a ten-month closing high.
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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