Economy

US Stocks Open Higher Despite Talks on Delisting Chinese Firms

Published

7 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

OTC Securities Exchange Falls 1.31% as Key Stocks Decline

Published

1 hour ago

19/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Three bellwether stocks weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.31 per cent on Monday, May 18.

This brought the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 54.71 points to 4,133.70 points from 4,188.41 points, and shrank the market capitalisation by N32.73 billion to N2.473 trillion from N2.506 trillion.

Yesterday, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc contracted by N12.45 to sell at N146.55 per share compared with last Friday’s closing price of N159.00 per share, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc declined by N2.34 to N70.00 per unit from N72.34 per unit, and NASD Plc lost 50 Kobo to trade at N34.50 per share versus N35.00 per share.

The trio overpowered the N5.56 gained Newrest Asl Plc. This stock ended the trading session at N61.15 per unit, in contrast to the previous session’s N55.59 per unit.

During the trading day, the volume of securities traded by investors slid by 56.1 per cent to 514,142 units from 1.2 million units, and the value of securities dropped 29.8 per cent to close at N17.4 million versus N29.8 million, while the number of deals jumped 12.5 per cent to 27 deals from 24 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 60.8 million units exchanged for N4.1 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.9 million units traded for N1.9 billion.

GNI Plc also ended the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units transacted for N1.2 billion.

Economy

FX Pressure Pushes Naira Lower to N1,373/$1 at Official Market

Published

2 hours ago

19/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

It was a horrible day for the Nigerian Naira in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Monday, May 15, as its value further weakened against the United States Dollar.

In the black market window, the Naira lost N5 against the Dollar yesterday to sell for N1,390/$1 compared with the previous value of N1,385/$1, but at the GTBank forex counter, it remained unchanged at N1,383/$1.

In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), the Nigerian currency depreciated against the greenback by N2.66 or 0.19 per cent to sell for N1,373.70/$1 compared to last Friday’s rate of N1,371.04/$1.

Equally, it fell against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment by N9.05 to trade at N1,839.66/£1 versus N1,830.61/£1, and lost N5.42 on the Euro to close at N1,600.49/€1 versus N1,595.07/€1.

The performance of the local currency during the session indicates early worries despite all signals pointing to stability, amid improved Dollar sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with steady, higher oil receipts to bolster the nation’s reserves.

Activity at the market showed that turnover rose 57.3 per cent to $76.29 million on Monday from $48.49 million posted on Friday.

Over the weekend, S&P raised Nigeria’s credit ratings for the first time since 2012 and highlighted improved FX market liquidity and $10 billion turnover recorded in April 2026 as one of the major gains of the CBN-led FX reforms.

The agency said the liberalisation of the exchange rate has bolstered access to foreign currency and enabled a market-driven exchange-rate environment while supporting investor and consumer confidence.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish on Monday as investors monitored developments in the Iran conflict and weighed the impact of surging oil prices on inflation and US interest-rate expectations.

Ethereum (ETH) gained 0.7 per cent to trade at $2,134.10, Cardano (ADA) rose by 0.6 per cent to $0.2515, Solana (SOL) expanded by 0.3 per cent to $85.11, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped 0.2 per cent to $643.29, TRON (TRX) increased by 0.03 per cent to $0.3565, and Bitcoin (BTC) advanced by 0.02 per cent to $76,912.12.

On the flip side, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 1.5 per cent to $0.1044, and Ripple (XRP) decreased by 0.5 per cent to $1.38, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.

Economy

Customs Street Opens Week Bearish With 0.05% Loss

Published

2 hours ago

19/05/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

A marginal 0.05 per cent loss was recorded by Customs Street on Monday, as sell-offs by market participants remained.

This was driven by the desire of investors to book profits, having witnessed a significant price appreciation on the stocks in their portfolios.

Yesterday, bargain-hunting in the banking space, which resulted in the sector closing 0.17 per cent higher, could not prevent the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited from going down.

Data showed that the consumer goods segment lost 0.26 per cent, the insurance counter depreciated by 0.20 per cent, the industrial goods index shed 0.09 per cent, and the energy industry retreated by 0.03 per cent.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) eased by 126.09 points to 250,204.83 points from 250,330.92 points, and the market capitalisation contracted by N81 billion to N160.363 trillion from N160.444 trillion.

NCR Nigeria and Zichis declined by 9.99 per cent each to sell for N161.20 and N26.49, respectively, Industrial and Medical Gases shrank by 9.93 per cent to N38.10, Sovereign Trust Insurance depreciated by 9.86 per cent to N2.65, and DAAR Communications slipped by 9.78 per cent to N2.03.

On the flip side, Oando gained 10.00 per cent to finish at N51.70, University Press also rose by 10.00 per cent to N5.50, Deap Capital soared by 9.96 per cent to N5.96, May and Baker expanded by 9.94 per cent to N52.00, and Trans-Nationwide Express grew by 9.92 per cent to N7.76.

Yesterday, 800.5 million equities worth N37.1 billion exchanged hands in 87,096 deals compared with the 1.1 billion equities valued at N44.3 billion traded in 65,744 deals last Friday. This showed that the number of deals went up by 32.48 per cent, while the trading volume and value went down by 27.23 per cent and 16.25 per cent, respectively.

The most active stock on the first trading session of this week was UBA with a turnover of 65.0 million units worth N2.8 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 57.3 million units for N1.3 billion, Access Holdings sold 42.3 million units valued at N1.1 billion, DAAR Communications exchanged 36.7 million units for N81.8 million, and Secure Electronic Technology transacted 36.6 million units worth N33.0 million.