Economy

US Stocks Open Lower on Renewed Trade War Concerns

Published

7 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

NASD OTC Bourse Records Marginal 0.01% Rise

Published

13 hours ago

30/04/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria's Unlisted Securities Market Sheds 0.78%, NASD Shares up 8.31%

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange made a marginal 0.01 per cent rise on Tuesday, April 29, pushing the Unlisted Security Index (NSI) up by 0.29 points to 3,282.42 points from the previous session’s 3,282.42 points.

Also, the market capitalisation of the trading platform increased slightly by N170 million to remain relatively unchanged at N1.922 trillion.

At the trading session, the bourse ended with two price gainers led by Geo-Fluids Plc, which chalked up 15 Kobo to sell at N2.13 per unit compared with the previous day’s N1.98 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc grew by 13 Kobo to settle at N1.29 per share compared with the N1.17 per share it was traded a day earlier.

However, Afriland Properties Plc lost N1.71 to close at N16.07 per unit versus the preceding day’s price of N17.78 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc crumbled by 65 Kobo to finish at N37.50 per share, in contrast to Monday’s closing value of N38.15 per share.

The volume of securities traded in the session went up by 223.6 per cent to 2.2 million units from the 692,885 units transacted in the previous trading day, the value of transactions jumped by 70.8 per cent to N38.6 million from N22.6 million, while the number of deals fell by 18.4 per cent to 31 deals from 38 deals.

Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units sold for N4.9 billion, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with a turnover of 71.2 million units valued at N24.2 million.

The most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis was Okitipupa Plc with a turnover of 153.6 million worth N4.9 billion, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with the sale of 14.7 million units for N566.9 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc 533.9 million units valued at N520.9 million.

Economy

Naira Stable at N1,601/$1 at Official Market, N1,610/$1 at Parallel Market

Published

14 hours ago

30/04/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira marginally appreciated against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, April 11.

Data obtained by Business Post from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that the exchange rate closed at N1,601.04/$1 during the trading session compared with the previous day’s value of N1,601.38/$1, indicating that the Nigerian currency improved its value by 0.08 per cent or 34 Kobo against the greenback.

Also, against the Pound Sterling, the local currency appreciated yesterday by N5.57 to sell for N2,145.85/£1 versus Monday’s closing price of N2,186.65/£1 but against the Euro, it lost N5.00 to trade at N1,823.82/€1, in contrast to the N1,818.82/€1 it was exchanged a day earlier.

At the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the US Dollar on Tuesday, remaining unchanged at N1,610/$1.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market turned bearish yesterday after a wave of economic data suggests the US economic activity is slowing down due to the tariffs policies unleashed by the administration of President Donald Trump.

Consumer confidence, according to a survey by the Conference Board, is currently at its lowest level since May 2020, a period when the world was on lockdown.

However, there are evidence that negotiation of trade deals with other countries, could offer support.

Dogecoin (DOGE) depleted by 3.3 per cent to sell at $0.1740, Ripple (XRP) lost 2.6 per cent to quote at $2.22, Cardano slumped by 2.4 per cent to trade at $0.6955, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 1.9 per cent to finish at $84.89, and Solana (SOL) recorded a 1.4 per cent depreciation to close at $146.55.

Further, Ethereum (ETH) declined by 1.3 per cent to end at $1,779.01, Binance Coin (BNB) crumbled by 1.2 per cent to settle at $603.30, and Bitcoin (BTC) slipped by 0.2 per cent to trade at $94,682.75, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.

Economy

House of Reps Recovers Fresh N11.49bn from Seplat, Aradel, Four Others

Published

14 hours ago

30/04/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

An additional N11.49 billion has been recovered by the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts from some oil companies operating in Nigeria.

A statement signed by the spokesman of the lower chamber of the National Assembly, Mr Akin Rotimi, said the total amount recovered from these energy firms is now N61.5 billion.

He stated that the recovered funds were from oil and gas companies with outstanding obligations to the federal government.

It was revealed that $182,057.44 (N291.29 million) was recovered from Platform Petroleum Limited, $730,889.37 (N1.17 billion) was from Midwestern Oil and Gas, N1.58 billion from Seplat Energy, $3.9 million (N6.1 billion) from Aradel Holdings, $500,000 (N775 million)

From Network Exploration & Production, and $1 million (N1.55 billion) from Shoreline Resources Limited.

According to the statement, the committee’s intensified efforts are anchored on findings from the Auditor-General’s reports and data obtained from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

These have informed sustained engagements with oil firms to ensure accountability for unremitted funds and outstanding liabilities.

The legislative arm of government also warned some organisations ignoring invitations to desist from such.

It said these defaulting firms collectively owe over $384 million and N325.7 million to the federal government, listing them as Neconde Energy Ltd – $110.5 million and N325.7 million, Heirs Holdings – $137.7 million, AITEO Ltd – $34.8 million, Continental Oil & Gas Ltd – $31 million, General Hydrocarbon – $28.4 million, Energia Ltd – $19.5 million, Waltersmith OML 16 – $8.7 million, Bilton – $5 million, Pillar Oil Ltd – $4.6 million, Millennium Oil and Gas Ltd – $2.067 million, Conoil Producing Ltd – $1.1 million, and Frontier OML 13 – $952,216.51.

“This Committee will not tolerate attempts by corporate entities to evade their responsibility to the Nigerian people.

“These companies are withholding billions of Naira owed to the federal government, and we will not allow them to disregard the authority of parliament.

“If these companies believe they are too big to be held accountable, they must understand that their licenses are at risk.

“We are prepared to recommend immediate revocation for any company that shows contempt for this Committee and the laws of the nation,” the chairman of the panel, Mr Bamidele Salam, fumed.

“No company is above the law. The funds being withheld are critical to the country’s growth and must not be hoarded while Nigeria suffers. Every company operating in Nigeria must settle its obligations promptly, as required by law,” he declared.