Economy

US Stocks Open Higher Despite Talks on Delisting Chinese Firms

Published

5 years ago

30/09/2019

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a modestly higher opening on Monday, with stocks likely to move back to the upside following the weakness seen last Friday.

Early buying interest may be generated in reaction to news that a Treasury Department spokeswoman denied reports the Trump administration is considering delisting Chinese companies from U.S. stock exchanges

?The administration is not contemplating blocking Chinese companies from listing shares on U.S. stock exchanges at this time. We welcome investment in the United States,? Treasury spokeswoman Monica Crowley said in a statement.

Crowley?s statement comes on the heels of reports suggesting the administration is contemplating ways to curb U.S. investments in China.

White House trade advisor Peter Navarro attacked the media reports in an interview with CNBC on Monday, claiming ?over half? of a Bloomberg report about potential restrictions was ?highly inaccurate or simply flat-out false.?

?This story was just so full of inaccuracies and in terms of the truth of the matter, what the Treasury said I think was accurate,? Navarro said.

Better than expected manufacturing data out of China may also temper some of the recent concerns about the impact of the U.S.-China trade war.

After seeing considerable volatility in the morning, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading session on Friday. The major averages all slid firmly into negative territory, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq showing a particularly steep drop.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels going into the close but remained in the red. The Dow dipped 70.87 points or 0.3 percent to 26,820.25, the Nasdaq tumbled 91.03 points or 1.1 percent to 7,939.63 and the S&P 500 fell 15.83 points or 0.5 percent to 2,961.79.

For the week, the Nasdaq plunged by 2.2 percent, the S&P 500 slumped by 1 percent and the Dow dropped by 0.4 percent.

Stocks moved to the downside after a report from Bloomberg News said Trump administration officials are discussing ways to limit U.S. investors’ portfolio flows into China.

Citing people familiar with the internal deliberations, Bloomberg noted the move would have repercussions for billions of dollars in investment pegged to major indexes.

A source family with the matter confirmed to CNBC that the White House is weighing some curbs on U.S. investments in China but noted the discussions are in the preliminary stages and nothing has been decided.

The reports reflect the ever-changing landscape of U.S.-China relations that has kept traders reluctant to make significant bets.

Earlier in the day, traders expressed some optimism about U.S.-China trade talks after a report from CNBC said negotiations are set to resume October 10th in Washington.

A person close to the talks said Chinese Vice Premier Liu He would be representing the delegation from Beijing at the meetings.

The U.S. and China held deputy-level trade talks last week, although Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called off a trip by Chinese officials to U.S. farms.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report unexpectedly showing a modest increase in U.S. durable goods orders in the month of August.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders rose by 0.2 percent in August after jumping by 2.0 percent in July. The continued increase surprised economists, who had expected orders to pull back by 1.0 percent.

Excluding a drop in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders increased by 0.5 percent in August after falling by 0.5 percent in July. Economists had expected ex-transportation orders to rise by 0.2 percent.

However, the report also said orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a key indicator of business spending, edged down by 0.2 percent in August after coming in unchanged in July.

A separate Commerce Department report showed U.S. personal income rose in line with economist estimates in the month of August, although personal spending inched up by less than expected.

The Commerce Department said personal income climbed by 0.4 percent in August after ticking up by 0.1 percent in July. The increase in income matched economist estimates.

Meanwhile, the report said personal spending crept up by 0.1 percent in August after climbing by 0.5 percent in July. Spending had been expected to rise by 0.3 percent.

Semiconductor stocks showed a significant move to the downside over the course of the trading session, dragging the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 2.4 percent.

Chipmaker Micron Technology (MU) led the sector lower after reporting better than expected fiscal fourth quarter results but providing disappointing guidance.

Considerable weakness was also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 2.1 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.

The weakness in the gold sector came as the price of the precious metal climbed off its worst levels but still showed a notable decrease.

Software, telecom, and oil service stocks also came under pressure as the day progressed, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.

Economy

FAAC Disburses 1.727trn to FG, States Local Councils in December 2024

Published

3 hours ago

14/12/2024

Modupe Gbadeyanka

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The federal government, the 36 states of the federation and the 774 local government areas have received N1.727 trillion from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) for December 2024.

The funds were disbursed to the three tiers of government from the revenue generated by the nation in November 2024.

At the December meeting of FAAC held in Abuja, it was stated that the amount distributed comprised distributable statutory revenue of N455.354 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N585.700 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N15.046 billion and Exchange Difference revenue of N671.392 billion.

According to a statement signed on Friday by the Director of Press and Public Relations for FAAC, Mr Bawa Mokwa, the money generated last month was about N3.143 trillion, with N103.307 billion used for cost of collection and N1.312 trillion for transfers, interventions and refunds.

It was disclosed that gross statutory revenue of N1.827 trillion was received compared with the N1.336 trillion recorded a month earlier.

The statement said gross revenue of N628.972 billion was available from VAT versus N668.291 billion in the preceding month.

The organisation stated that last month, oil and gas royalty and CET levies recorded significant increases, while excise duty, VAT, import duty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Companies Income Tax (CIT) and EMTL decreased considerably.

As for the sharing, FAAC disclosed that from the N1.727 trillion, the central government got N581.856 billion, the states received N549.792 billion, the councils took N402.553 billion, while the benefiting states got N193.291 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.

From the N585.700 billion VAT earnings, the national government got N87.855 billion, the states received N292.850 billion and the local councils were given N204.995 billion.

Also, from the N455.354 billion distributable statutory revenue, the federal government was given N175.690 billion, the states got N89.113 billion, the local governments had N68.702 billion, and the benefiting states received N121.849 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.

In addition, from the N15.046 billion EMTL revenue, FAAC shared N2.257 billion to the federal government, disbursed N7.523 billion to the states and transferred N5.266 billion to the local councils.

Further, from the N671.392 billion Exchange Difference earnings, it gave central government N316.054 billion, the states N160.306 billion, the local government areas N123.590 billion, and the oil-producing states N71.442 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.

Economy

Okitipupa Plc, Two Others Lift Unlisted Securities Market by 0.65%

Published

8 hours ago

14/12/2024

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.65 per cent gain on Friday, December 13, boosted by three equities admitted on the trading platform.

On the last trading session of the week, Okitipupa Plc appreciated by N2.70 to settle at N29.74 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N27.04 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc added N2.49 to end the session at N42.85 per unit compared with the previous day’s N40.36 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 50 Kobo to close at N16.30 per share, in contrast to the preceding session’s N15.80 per share.

Consequently, the market capitalisation added N6.89 billion to settle at N1.062 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.055 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gained 19.66 points to wrap the session at 3,032.16 points compared with 3,012.50 points recorded in the previous session.

Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors increased by 171.6 per cent to 1.2 million units from the 447,905 units recorded a day earlier, but the value of shares traded by the market participants declined by 19.3 per cent to N2.4 million from the N3.02 million achieved a day earlier, and the number of deals went down by 14.3 per cent to 18 deals from 21 deals.

At the close of business, Geo-Fluids Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 1.7 billion units worth N3.9 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with the sale of 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.3 million units sold for N5.3 million.

In the same vein, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 108.7 million units for N89.2 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with a turnover of 297.3 million units worth N5.3 billion.

Economy

Naira Trades N1,533/$1 at Official Market, N1,650/$1 at Parallel Market

Published

9 hours ago

14/12/2024

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira appreciated further against the United States Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N1.50 or 0.09 per cent to close at N1,533.00/$1 on Friday, December 13 versus the N1,534.50/$1 it was transacted on Thursday.

The local currency has continued to benefit from the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) this month.

The implementation of the forex system comes with diverse implications for all segments of the financial markets that deal with FX, including the rebound in the value of the Naira across markets.

The system instantly reflects data on all FX transactions conducted in the interbank market and approved by the CBN.

Market analysts say the publication of real-time prices and buy-sell orders data from this system has lent support to the Naira in the official market and tackled speculation.

In the official market yesterday, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling by N12.58 to wrap the session at N1,942.19/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,954.77/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N2.44 to close at N1,612.85/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,610.41/€1.

At the black market, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the greenback on Friday by N30 to sell for N1,650/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N1,680/$1.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was largely positive as investors banked on recent signals, including fresh support from US President-elect, Mr Donald Trump, as well as interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB).

Ripple (XRP) added 7.3 per cent to sell at $2.49, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 3.5 per cent to $728.28, Cardano (ADA) expanded by 2.4 per cent to trade at $1.11, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 2.3 per cent to $122.56, Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1.9 per cent to settle at $101,766.17, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $0.4064, Solana (SOL) soared by 0.7 per cent to $226.15 and Ethereum (ETH) advanced by 0.6 per cent to $3,925.35, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.