Economy

US Stocks Open Lower on Renewed Trade War Concerns

Published

8 years ago

15/06/2018

By Investors Hub

The major US index futures are pointing to a notably lower opening on Friday following the mixed performance seen in the previous session.

Renewed trade war concerns are likely to weigh on the markets after President Donald Trump announced plans to impose a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods that contain “industrially significant technologies.”

“These tariffs are essential to preventing further unfair transfers of American technology and intellectual property to China, which will protect American jobs,” Trump said in a statement.

He added, “n addition, they will serve as an initial step toward bringing balance to the trade relationship between the United States and China.”

Trump claimed he would impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods if China retaliates by imposing new tariffs on US goods or services, raising non-tariff barriers, or taking punitive actions against American exporters.

However, China has already pledged to strike back quickly if the US enacts protectionist measures that harm the country’s interests.

“If the United States takes unilateral, protectionist measures that harm China’s interests, we will quickly react and take necessary steps to safeguard our rights and interest,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang.

Following the pullback seen late in the previous session, the major averages turned in a mixed performance during trading on Thursday. While the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed to a new record closing high, the narrower Dow closed lower for the third straight day.

The Nasdaq advanced 65.34 points or 0.9 percent to 7,761.04. The S&P 500 also rose 6.86 points or 0.3 percent to 2,782.49, but the Dow edged down 25.89 points or 0.1 percent at 25,175.31.

The advance by the Nasdaq was partly due to continued strength among media stocks, with 21st Century Fox (FOXA) extending the strong upward seen in the previous session.

Fox moved notably higher after Comcast (CMCSA) announced a $65 billion bid for most of the company’s media assets, igniting a potential bidding war with Disney (DIS).

Meanwhile, a notable decline by shares of General Electric (GE) weighed on the Dow, with the industrial conglomerate slumping by 1.8 percent.

The drop by GE came after CEO John Flannery told French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire the company’s commitment to create 1,000 jobs by the end of 2018 as part of its acquisition of Alstom’s energy business is now out of reach.

Earlier in the day, buying interest was generated by the release of some upbeat economic data, including a report from the Commerce Department showing a much bigger than expected increase in retail sales in the month of May.

The Commerce Department said retail sales jumped by 0.8 percent in May after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.4 percent in April. Economists had expected retail sales to rise by 0.4 percent.

Excluding sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales still surged up by 0.9 percent in May following a 0.4 percent increase in April. Ex-auto sales had been expected to climb by 0.5 percent.

A separate report from the Labor Department unexpectedly showed a modest decrease in initial jobless claims in the week ended June 9th.

The report said initial jobless claims edged down to 218,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 222,000. Economists had expected initial jobless claims to inch up to 224,000.

Traders were also digesting the European Central Bank’s highly anticipated monetary policy announcement, with the ECB revealing plans to wind down its massive bond-buying program.

The ECB said it plans to reduce the monthly pace of its net asset purchases to 15 billion euros from 30 billion euros after September before completely ending the program at the end of December.

Meanwhile, the ECB left interest rates unchanged and said it expects rates to remain at their present levels at least through the summer of 2019.

Most of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day, contributing to the relatively lackluster close by the broader markets.

Utilities stocks showed a strong move to the upside, however, with the Dow Jones Utilities Average climbing by 1.3 percent. The average climbed further off the four-month closing low set on Monday.

Notable strength was also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 1.1 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The strength in the sector came amid an increase by the price of gold.

Biotechnology, telecom, and real estate stocks also saw some strength on the day, while banking stocks moved to the downside.

Economy

UAE to Leave OPEC May 1

Published

6 hours ago

28/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The United ‌Arab Emirates has announced its decision to quit the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to focus on national interests.

This dealt ⁠a heavy ⁠blow to the oil-exporting group at a time when the US-Israel war on Iran had caused ⁠a historic energy shock and rattled the global economy.

The move, which will take effect on May 1, 2026, reflects “the UAE’s long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile”, a statement carried by state media said on Tuesday.

“During our time in the organisation, we made significant contributions and even greater sacrifices for the benefit of all,” it added. “However, the time has come to focus our efforts on what our national interest dictates.”

The loss of the UAE, a longstanding OPEC member, could create disarray and weaken the oil cartel, which has usually sought to show a united ⁠front despite internal disagreements over a range of issues from geopolitics to production quotas.

UAE Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei said the decision was taken after a careful look at the regional power’s energy strategies.

“This is a policy decision. It has been done after a careful look at current and future policies related to the level of production,” the minister said.

OPEC’s Gulf producers have already been struggling to ship exports through the Strait of Hormuz, a ‌narrow chokepoint between Iran and Oman through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies normally pass, because of threats and attacks against vessels during the war.

The UAE had been a member of OPEC first through its emirate of Abu Dhabi in 1967 and later when it became its own country in 1971.

The oil cartel, based in Vienna, has seen some of its market power wane as the US has increased its production of crude oil in recent years.

Additionally, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have increasingly competed over economic issues and regional politics, particularly in the Red Sea area.

The two countries had joined a coalition to fight against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis in 2015. However, that coalition broke down into recriminations in late December when Saudi Arabia bombed what it described as a weapons shipment bound for Yemeni separatists backed by the UAE.

Economy

NASD OTC Exchange Inches Up 0.03% as CSCS Outshines Four Price Decliners

Published

18 hours ago

28/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc bested four price decliners on the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Monday, April 27. The alternative stock market opened the week bullish during the session with a 0.03 per cent uptick.

According to data, the security depository company added N2.61 to its share price to close at N76.26 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N78.87 per unit.

As a result, the market capitalisation of the platform increased by N820 million to N2.425 trillion from N2.424 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gained 1.38 points to finish at 4,053.97 points compared with the 4,052.58 points it ended last Friday.

The four price losers were led by NASD Plc, which slumped by N3.80 to sell at N34.70 per share versus N38.50 per share. FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc fell by N1.45 to N98.10 per unit from N99.55 per unit, Food Concepts Plc slid by 27 Kobo to N2.43 per share from N2.70 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc dipped by 9 Kobo to N2.91 per unit from N3.00 per unit.

The value of securities transacted by market participants went down by 82.0 per cent to N7.4 million from N41.3 million units, the volume of securities declined by 28.5 per cent to 319,831 units from 447,403 units, and the number of deals dropped by 34.1 per cent to 29 deals from 44 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units sold for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.

Also, GNI Plc was the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with a turnover of 400 million units worth N1.2 billion.

Economy

Naira Opens Week Weaker at N1,364/$ at NAFEX After N5.80 Loss

Published

19 hours ago

28/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The first trading day of the week in the currency market was bearish for the Naira in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, April 27.

Yesterday, it lost N5.80 or 0.43 per cent against the United States Dollar to trade at N1,364.24/$1, in contrast to the N1,358.44/$1 it was traded last Friday.

In the same vein, the Nigerian currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N13.70 to close at N1,847.72/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,834.02/£1, and slumped against the Euro by N11.56 to sell at N1,602.29/€1 versus N1,590.73/€1.

Also, the Nigerian Naira tumbled against the greenback during the trading day by N5 to quote at N1,385/$1 compared with the previous rate of N1,380/$1, and at the GTBank FX desk, it traded flat at N1,370/$1.

The poor performance of the domestic currency could be attributed to liquidity shortage at the official currency market on Monday, which came amid surging demand for international payments. At $76.50 million, interbank liquidity printed higher across 79 deals, up from the $43.572 million reported on Friday.

Nigeria’s gross external reserves declined to $48.45 billion amid a month-long decline in inflows, amid uncertainties in the global commodity market. The depletion of foreign reserves could be partly attributed to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s intervention in the FX market.

The market remains perturbed by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market, while boosters, including oil prices, continue to look rocky due to stalled discussions and unclear ceasefire negotiations between the US and Iran.

A look at the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) has been rejected near $79,000 three times in eight sessions, leaving the level as the de facto ceiling of its current trading range even as major cryptocurrencies trade lower over the past day. It lost 0.9 per cent to sell at $77,003.61.

Analysts say that upcoming US Federal Reserve policy decisions and top tech firms’ earnings this week could provide the catalyst to push bitcoin decisively above $80,000.

The market also continued to weigh Iran’s interim deal proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which failed to advance over the weekend. The White House said US officials were discussing the latest Iranian proposal but maintained “red lines” on any deal to end the eight-week war.

Solana (SOL) dropped 1.8 per cent to $84.25, Ripple (XRP) went down by 1.6 per cent to $1.39, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $2,290.00, Binance Coin (BNB) declined by 0.5 per cent to $625.18, and Cardano (ADA) fell by 0.2 per cent to $0.2480.

However, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 2.0 per cent to $0.1002, and TRON (TRX) appreciated by 0.2 per cent to $0.3242, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.