Economy
US Stocks Open Flat on Looming Trump-Kim Summit
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a roughly flat opening on Monday as traders look ahead to several key events this week.
Traders may be reluctant to make any significant moves ahead of the historic summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday.
Ahead of the meeting, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo indicated the U.S. is prepared to offer North Korea ?different? and ?unique? security assurances in exchange for the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
In remarks last Thursday, Trump expressed some optimism about his meeting with Kim but stressed that he is willing to walk away from negotiations.
Trump said his administration has stopped using the term “maximum pressure” with regard to North Korea and suggested the success of the negotiations could be determined by whether he uses the words after the meeting.
In addition to the highly anticipated Trump-Kim meeting, traders are also looking ahead to monetary policy announcements by the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.
The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points, while the ECB has indicated the meeting will be used to discuss ending its bond purchasing program.
Meanwhile, trade concerns may continue to hang over the markets after Trump backed out of a joint G7 communiqué over the weekend.
Trump continued to hammer U.S. allies on trade after leaving the G7 summit early in order to attend the meeting with Kim in Singapore.
After an early move to the downside, stocks moved modestly higher over the course of the trading session on Friday. With the turnaround on the day, the Dow and the S&P 500 reached their best closing levels in about three months.
The major averages finished the day just off their highs of the session. The Dow climbed 75.12 points or 0.3 percent to 25,316.53, the Nasdaq inched up 10.44 points or 0.1 percent to 7,645.51 and the S&P 500 rose 8.66 points or 0.3 percent to 2,779.03.
For the week, the major averages moved sharply higher. The Dow soared by 2.8 percent, the S&P 500 surged up by 1.6 percent and the Nasdaq jumped by 1.2 percent.
The rebound by stocks as the day progressed came as traders kept a close eye on any developments out of the G7 summit in Canada.
The summit is expected to focus on trade relations amid the ongoing dispute over President Donald Trump imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico, and the European Union.
Trump continued his tough talk on trade as he prepared to head to the meeting, arguing that the U.S. is being treated very unfairly on trade.
In posts on Twitter ahead of the summit, Trump lashed out at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron.
“Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers,” Trump tweeted.
He added, “The EU trade surplus with the U.S. is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out. Look forward to seeing them tomorrow.”
Trump described Trudeau as “indignant” for bringing up the relationship between the U.S. and Canada without mentioning Canadian tariffs on U.S. dairy products.
“Looking forward to straightening out unfair Trade Deals with the G-7 countries. If it doesn’t happen, we come out even better!” Trump tweeted.
In remarks to reporters before the leaving for the summit, Trump suggested Russia should be included in the meeting of major industrialized countries.
Housing stocks moved significantly higher over the course of the session, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 1.8 percent. The index climbed to its best intraday level in well over a month.
Transportation, biotechnology, and computer hardware stocks also saw some strength on the day, while oil service and semiconductor stocks moved to the downside.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose further by 0.33 per cent on Thursday, January 23, as appetite for unlisted stocks continued to grow.
During the trading session, the value of the bourse went up by N7.6 billion to N1.767 trillion from the N1.76 trillion it closed in the preceding session, as the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) made an additional 10.33 points to wrap the trading day at 3,120.3 points compared with the 3,09.80 points recorded at the midweek session.
Business Post reports that the share price of Okitipupa Plc increased on Thursday by N4.35 to end the day at N47.90 per unit compared with the previous day’s N43.55 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc gained 14 Kobo to settle at N1.74 per share, in contrast to the preceding day’s N1.60 per share.
On the flip side, Impresit Bakolori Plc suffered a decline of 10 Kobo yesterday to trade at 95 Kobo per unit versus Wednesday’s closing price of N1.05 per unit.
When the exchange closed for the session, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors went up by 70,008 per cent to 407.4 million units from the 581,160 units transacted a day earlier.
Equally, the value of shares traded during the session jumped by 16,665.9 per cent to N391.2 million from the N2.3 million recorded at midweek, and the number of deals increased by 65 per cent to 30 deals from the 20 deals posted on Wednesday.
Impresit Bakolori Plc topped the activity chart as the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 406.5 million units worth N386.1 million, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 4.3 million units valued at N170.4 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.1 million units sold for N44.3 million.
However, Impresit Bakolori Plc snatched the top spot as most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 406.5 million units worth N386.1 million, as Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc dropped to second position for selling 26.3 million units sold for N6.3 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc occupied third with 9.2 million units valued at N44.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira recovered about 0.26 per cent or N3.99 against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, January 23 after coming under pressure in recent times.
During the session, the exchange rate of the local currency to its American counterpart closed at N1,548.59/$1 in the official market compared with the previous day’s N1,552.58/$1.
Also, against the Pound Sterling, the domestic currency gained N3.32 yesterday to trade at N1,912.21/£1 compared with Wednesday’s value of N1,915.53/£1 and on the Euro, it improved by N3.82 to sell for N1,617.72/€1 versus N1,613.89/€1.
The forex market may be reacting positively to news that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would launch a FX Code, which will serve as a guideline to the banking industry to promote ethical conduct of Authorised Dealers in the Nigerian FX market, next week.
The code will further reduce speculative activities, eliminate market distortions, and give the CBN improved oversight capabilities to effectively regulate the market.
The bank noted that authorised dealers would subsequently conduct all FX transactions in the interbank FX market on the EFEMS approved by the apex bank where transactions will be reflected immediately.
However, in the black market segment, the Nigerian Naira lost N5 against the greenback during the session to quote at N1,665/$1, in contrast to midweek’s rate of N1,660/$1.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it was lively yesterday as attention is increasingly centered on potential policy developments under the government of President Donald Trump of the US.
On Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order to ban the digital dollar and promote crypto and AI innovation in the country.
Meanwhile, the US data released recently showed the “all tenant rent” index, which leads the shelter inflation in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose at a slower pace last quarter. That has raised hopes that the US Federal Reserve will walk back on its hawkish December rate forecasts.
These helped Ethereum (ETH) gain 5.4 per cent on Thursday to sell at $3,394.79, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 4.4 per cent to $260.86, Cardano (ADA) jumped by 2.9 per cent to $1.00, and Litecoin (LTC) expanded by 2.6 per cent to $116.78.
Further, Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 2.1 per cent to $1o4,978.31, Ripple (XRP) leapt by 0.7 per cent to $3.16, Dogecoin (DOGE) increased by 0.6 per cent to $0.3572, and Binance Coin (BNB) soared by 1.6 per cent to $710.31, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The global crude oil market waned on Thursday after the US President, Mr Donald Trump, urged the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to bring down the cost of the commodity during his address at the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Brent crude futures lost 71 cents or 0.9 per cent after the speech to close at $78.29 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) crude futures contracted by 82 cents or 1.09 per cent to $74.62 per barrel.
At WEF in Davos, Switzerland, President Trump announced he would ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil.
Since he took office, the uncertainty over how Mr Trump’s proposed tariffs and energy policies would affect global economic growth and energy demand have weighed on prices.
He threatened to add new tariffs to his sanctions threat against Russia if the country does not make a deal to end its war with Ukraine.
He also vowed to hit the European Union with tariffs and impose 25 per cent tariffs against Canada and Mexico.
On China, Mr Trump said his administration was discussing a 10 per cent punitive duty because fentanyl is being sent from there to the US.
On Monday, he declared a national energy emergency intended to provide him with the authority to reduce environmental restrictions on energy infrastructure and projects; and ease permitting for new transmission and pipeline infrastructure.
Market analysts say there will be more potential for a downward choppy movement in the oil market in the near term due to the Trump administration’s lack of clarity on trade tariffs policy and the impending higher oil supplies from the US.
Meanwhile, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an inventory dip of 1 million barrels for the week to January 17. In fuels, the EIA estimated mixed changes.
The change in crude inventories compared with a draw of 2 million barrels for the previous week, which also saw another round of sizable builds in fuels.
This contradicts forecasts by the American Petroleum Institute (API) which showed that on the US oil inventory front, crude stocks rose by 958,000 barrels in the week ending January 17 and added that gasoline (petrol) inventories rose by 3.23 million barrels and distillate stocks climbed by 1.88 million barrels, they said.
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