Economy

US Stocks Open Higher

Published

7 years ago

20/08/2018

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Monday, with stocks likely to move to the upside following the mixed performance seen last week.

The upward momentum on Wall Street comes as traders seem to be expressing optimism about upcoming trade talks between the U.S. and China.

Trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, with a lack of major U.S. economic data likely to keep some traders on the sidelines.

Stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading session on Friday after recovering from an early move to the downside. The Dow added to the substantial gain posted in the previous session to reach its best closing level in nearly six months.

The major averages gave back some ground going into the close but remained in positive territory. The Dow climbed 110.59 points or 0.4 percent to 25,669.32, the Nasdaq inched up 9.81 points or 0.1 percent to 7,816.33 and the S&P 500 rose 9.44 points or 0.3 percent to 2,850.13.

For the week, the major averages turned in a mixed performance. While the Nasdaq dipped by 0.3 percent, the S&P 500 climbed by 0.6 percent and the Dow jumped by 1.4 percent.

Late-day buying interest was seen after a report from the Wall Street Journal said Chinese and U.S. negotiators are drawing up a road map for talks to try to end their trade impasse.

Citing officials in both nations, the Journal indicated the plan would culminate in planned meetings between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at multilateral summits in November.

The report comes following yesterday’s news that China accepted an invitation from the U.S. for a new round of trade talks to be held later this month.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said that a Chinese delegation led by Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen will travel to the U.S. for trade talks to be held with U.S. Under Secretary of Treasury for International Affairs David Malpass.

The Journal said the U.S.-China trade talks in Washington would take place on August 21st and 22nd, just before the next round of tariffs targeting $16 billion worth of goods on both sides kick in on August 23rd.

In U.S. economic news, a report from the University of Michigan unexpectedly showed a notable deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of August.

The preliminary report said the consumer sentiment index dropped to 95.3 in August after edging down to 97.9 in July. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 98.0.

Surveys of Consumers chief economist Richard Curtin said the decrease in consumer sentiment was concentrated among households in the bottom third of the income distribution amid less favorable perceptions of market prices.

“Overall, the data indicate that consumers have little tolerance for overshooting inflation targets, and to the benefit of the Fed, interest rates now play a more decisive role in purchase decisions,” Curtin said.

Meanwhile, a separate report from the Conference Board showed a bigger than expected increase by its index of leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of July.

The Conference Board said its leading economic index climbed by 0.6 percent in July following a 0.5 percent increase in June. Economists had expected the index to rise by 0.4 percent.

“The U.S. LEI increased in July, suggesting the US economy will continue expanding at a solid pace for the remainder of this year,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, Director of Business Cycles and Growth Research at the Conference Board.

After falling sharply in recent sessions, gold stocks showed a substantial rebound on the day. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surged up by 2.5 percent, bouncing off its lowest closing level since early 2016.

The rebound by gold stocks came as the price of the precious saw further upside in electronic trading after ending the regular session only slightly higher.

Steel stocks also saw significant strength amid optimism about the trade talks between the U.S. and China, with the NYSE Arca Steel Index advancing by 1.3 percent. The index climbed further off the eight-month closing low set on Wednesday.

Tobacco, computer hardware, and retail stocks also saw notable strength, while most of the other major sectors showed more modest moves to the upside.

Economy

NGX RegCo Revokes Trading Licence of Monument Securities

Published

9 hours ago

14/01/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The trading licence of Monument Securities and Finance Limited has been revoked by the regulatory arm of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc.

Known as NGX Regulations Limited (NGX Regco), the regulator said it took back the operating licence of the organisation after it shut down its operations.

The revocation of the licence was approved by Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC) at its meeting held on September 24, 2025, a notice from the signed by the Head of Market Regulations at the agency, Chinedu Akamaka, said.

“This is to formally notify all trading license holders that the board of NGX Regulation Limited (NGX RegCo) has approved the decision of the Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC)” in respect of Monument Securities and Finance Limited, a part of the disclosure stated.

Monument Securities and Finance Limited was earlier licensed to assist clients with the trading of stocks in the Nigerian capital market.

However, with the latest development, the firm is no longer authorised to perform this function.

Economy

NEITI Advocates Fiscal Discipline, Transparency as FG, States, LGs Get N6trn in Three Months

Published

9 hours ago

14/01/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has called for fiscal discipline and transparency as data showed that federal government, states, and local governments shared a whopping N6 trillion Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements in the third quarter of last year.

In its analysis of the FAAC Q3 2025 allocation, the body revealed that the federal government received N2.19 trillion, states received N1.97 trillion, and local governments received N1.45 trillion.

According to a statement by the Director of Communication and Stakeholders Management at NEITI, Mrs Obiageli Onuorah, the allocation indicated a historic rise in federation account receipts and distributions, explaining that year-on-year quarterly FAAC allocations in 2025 grew by 55.6 per cent compared with Q3 of 2024 while it more than doubling allocations over two years.

The report contained in the agency’s Quarterly Review noted that the N6 trillion included 13 per cent payments to derivative states. It also showed that statutory revenues accounted for 62 per cent of shared receipts, while Value Added Tax (VAT) was 34 per cent, and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) and augmentation from non-oil excess revenue each accounted for 2 per cent, respectively.

The distribution to the 36 states comprised revenues from statutory sources, VAT, EMTL, and ecological funds. States also received additional N100 billion as augmentation from the non-oil excess revenue account.

The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr Sarkin Adar, called on the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) FAAC, the National Economic Council (NEC), the National Assembly, and state governments to act on the recommendations to strengthen transparency, accountability, and long-term fiscal sustainability.

“Though the Quarter 3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, NEITI reiterates that the data presents an opportunity to the government to institutionalise prudent fiscal practices that will protect the gains that have been recorded so far in growing revenue and reduce vulnerability to commodity shocks.

“The Q3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, but windfalls must be managed with discipline. Greater transparency, realistic budgeting, and stronger stabilisation mechanisms will ensure these resources deliver durable benefits for all Nigerians,” Mr Adar said.

NEITI urged the government at all levels to ensure the growth of Nigeria’s sovereign wealth and stabilisation capacity, by committing to regular transfers to the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund and other related stabilisation mechanisms in line with the fiscal responsibility frameworks.

It further advised governments at all levels to adopt realistic budget benchmarks by setting more conservative and achievable crude oil production and price assumptions in the budget to reduce implementation gaps, deficit, and debt metrics.

This, it said, is in addition to accelerating revenue diversification by prioritising reforms that would attract investments into the mining sector, expedite legislation to modernise the Mineral and Mining Act, support reforms in the downstream petroleum sector, as well as the full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to expand domestic refining and value addition.

Economy

World Bank Upwardly Reviews Nigeria’s 2026 Growth Forecast to 4.4%

Published

10 hours ago

14/01/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

Nigeria has been projected to record an economic growth rate of 4.4 per cent in 2026 by the World Bank Group, higher than the 3.7 per cent earlier predicted in June 2025.

In its 2026 Global Economic Prospects report released on Tuesday, the global lender also said the growth for next year for Nigeria is 4.4 per cent rather than the 3.8 per cent earlier projected.

As for the sub-Saharan African region, the economy is forecast to move up to 4.3 per cent this year and 4.5 per cent next year.

It stressed that growth in developing economies should slow to 4 per cent from 4.2 per cent in 2025 before rising to 4.1 per cent in 2027 as trade tensions ease, commodity prices stabilise, financial conditions improve, and investment flows strengthen.

In the report, it also noted that growth is expected to jump in low-income countries by 5.6 per cent due to stronger domestic demand, recovering exports, and moderating inflation.

As for the world economy, the bank said it is now 2.6 per cent and not 2.4 per cent due to growing resilience despite persistent trade tensions and policy uncertainty.

“The resilience reflects better-than-expected growth — especially in the United States, which accounts for about two-thirds of the upward revision to the forecast in 2026,” a part of the report stated.

“But economic dynamism and resilience cannot diverge for long without fracturing public finance and credit markets,” it noted.

World Bank also said, “Over the coming years, the world economy is set to grow slower than it did in the troubled 1990s — while carrying record levels of public and private debt.

“To avert stagnation and joblessness, governments in emerging and advanced economies must aggressively liberalise private investment and trade, rein in public consumption, and invest in new technologies and education.”