Economy

US Stocks Open Sharply Higher on Renewed Optimism About Trade

Published

6 years ago

11/12/2018

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a sharply higher opening on Tuesday, with stocks likely to see further upside following the substantial recovery seen over the course of the previous session.

Renewed optimism about U.S.-China trade talks may generate early buying interest after a telephone call between top officials from the world?s two largest economies.

China?s Commerce Ministry said Chinese Vice Premier Liu He spoke with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

?Both sides exchanged views on putting into effect the consensus reached by the two countries? leaders at their meeting, and pushing forward the timetable and roadmap for the next stage of economic and trade consultations work,? the ministry said in a statement.

Indications the talks are moving forward has offset some of the skepticism about the potential for a trade deal after U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a 90-day trade truce earlier this month.

A report from Bloomberg News that China is moving toward cutting tariffs on imported U.S.-made cars is likely to add to the positive sentiment.

Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg said a proposal to reduce tariffs on cars made in the U.S. to 15 percent from the current 40 percent has been submitted to China?s Cabinet.

Just after his meeting with Xi, Trump claimed in a post on Twitter that China had agreed to reduce and remove tariffs on cars coming into China from the U.S.

After moving sharply lower in morning trading, stocks staged a substantial turnaround over the course of the trading session on Monday. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day and into positive territory.

The major averages all closed higher, although the Nasdaq outperformed its counterparts, climbing 51.27 points or 0.7 percent to 7,020.52. The Dow inched up 34.31 points or 0.1 percent to 24,423.26 and the S&P 500 edged up 4.64 points or 0.2 percent to 2,637.72.

The turnaround on Wall Street came as traders went bargain hunting after the early weakness extended the sell-off seen last week.

The Dow and the S&P 500 rebounded after hitting their lowest intraday levels in seven and eight months, respectively.

Light trading activity may have contributed to the volatility, as some traders remained on the sidelines amid a lack of major U.S. economic data.

The economic calendar remains relatively light throughout the week, although reports on producer and consumer price inflation, retail sales, and industrial production are likely to attract attention in the coming days.

Traders may nonetheless remain reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting next week.

With the Fed widely expected to raise interest rates by another quarter point, traders will closely scrutinize the accompanying statement for clues about future rate hikes.

The early weakness on Wall Street reflected lingering concerns about the global economic outlook along with skepticism about the potential for a long-term trade deal between the U.S. and China.

Negative sentiment was generated by the release of a report from the Chinese customs office showing slower export growth.

Chinese exports rose 5.4 percent in November from a year earlier, marking the weakest performance since a contraction in March. Import growth stood at 3 percent, the slowest since October of 2016.

Data showing that the Japanese economy contracted the most in over four years in the third quarter also added to investor worries over slowing global growth.

Technology stocks helped lead the rebound on Wall Street, as reflected by the significant advance by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Within the tech sector, software stocks turned in some of the best performances, with the Dow Jones Software Index jumping by 2 percent.

Considerable strength also emerged among semiconductor and networking stocks, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and the NYSE Arca Networking Index up by 1.4 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

On the other hand, substantial weakness remained visible among energy stocks, which moved lower along with the price of crude oil.

Banking, steel, and housing stocks climbed off their worst levels but also ended the day notably lower, limiting the upside for the broad markets.

Economy

Nigeria Led Africa’s Upstream Oil, Gas Investments in 2024

Published

12 hours ago

21/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria ranked as Africa’s leading destination for upstream oil and gas investment in 2024, new research from market intelligence firm, Wood Mackenzie, has shown, accounting for three out of four Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) announced by global oil and gas majors, totaling $13.5 billion.

The FIDs announced within the Nigerian market included Shell’s $122 million investment in the Iseni Gas Project, TotalEnergies’ $566 million commitment to the Ubeta Gas Project and Shell’s approval of the Bonga North Tranche 1 project valued at around $5 billion.

According to the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Energy, Ms Olu Verheijen, these investments reflected Nigeria’s ongoing efforts to unlock its hydrocarbon potential through investor-friendly policies and strategic global partnerships.

Last year, Nigeria introduced several initiatives to create a conducive environment for oil and gas investors, including new tax incentives aimed at attracting up to $10 billion in natural gas investments.

Nigeria, which is Africa’s largest oil producer, also offered tax relief for gas investors, reducing corporate income tax and extending capital allowance benefits – for deepwater gas projects.

Other policies include the Presidential Directive on Local Content Compliance Requirements 2024 to address the reduction in oil and gas investments caused by high operating costs compared to global markets.

Also, the Presidential Directive on Reduction of Petroleum Sector Contracting Costs and Timelines 2024 reduces the time spent to award contracts for oil and gas projects.

In addition to the directives, Nigeria also launched its 2024 oil and gas licensing round, offering 19 blocks for exploration, demonstrating its commitment to continued collaboration with local, regional and international partners.

Market analysts note that with this momentum, further FIDs are anticipated, including TotalEnergies’ expected $750 million commitment to the Ima Shallow Gas Project in 2025.

Economy

UBN Property Triggers 0.22% Loss at NASD OTC Exchange

Published

15 hours ago

21/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.22 per cent decline on Monday, January 20, with the market capitalisation shedding N2.35 billion to close at N1.073 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N1.075 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) going down by 6.79 points to wrap the session at 3,105.12 points compared with 3,111.91 points recorded in the previous session.

It was observed that the loss recorded on the first trading day of the week was triggered by UBN Property Plc, which crashed by 20 Kobo to trade at N2.00 per share versus last Friday’s N2.20 per share.

However, the share price of Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc went up by 4 Kobo to 40 Kobo per unit from 36 Kobo per unit, it could not stop the bourse from going down at the close of transactions.

The activity chart showed that on Monday, the volume of securities traded by investors increased by 57.9 per cent to 767,610 units from the 486,215 units traded in the preceding session, while the value of shares traded yesterday slumped by 17.7 per cent to N2.3 million from the N2.8 million recorded in the preceding trading day, as the number of deals declined by 14.3 per cent to 12 deals from the 14 deals carried out in the previous trading day.

At the close of transactions, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 4.1 million units worth N162.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with a turnover of 9.1 million units valued at N44.0 million, and 11 Plc with the sale of 55,358 for N14.5 million.

Also, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 25.3 million units sold for N5.9 million, Geo-Fluids Plc came next with 9.1 million units valued at N44.0 million, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 4.1 million units worth N162.9 million.

Economy

Naira Weakens to N1,550/$1 at Official Market, Gains N5 at Black Market

Published

16 hours ago

21/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Naira weakened against the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, January 20 amid FX pressures associated with this period.

Most people who came into the country for Christmas and New Year holidays are already going back and are in need of forex, putting pressure on the local currency.

Also, the poor performance of the domestic currency could be attributed to end to the 42-day access granted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to Bureaux de Change (BDC) operators to buy forex at official price.

According to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange, the Nigerian Naira lost 0.16 per cent or N2.47 on the greeback yesterday to sell at N1,550.05/$1, in contrast to last Friday’s rate of N1,547.58/$1.

Similarly, the Naira slumped against the Pound Sterling in the spot market on Monday by N23.39 to trade at N1,906.98/£1 versus N1,883.59/£1 and depreciated against the Euro by N23.14 to sell for N1,613.48/€1 compared with last Friday’s N1,590.34/€1.

However, in the parallel market, the Nigerian currency improved its value against the Dollar during the session by N5 to quote at N1,665/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,670/$1.

As for the cryptocurrency market, it turned red yesterday as the US President, Mr Donald Trump, didn’t bring up the much-expected subject of crypto in his inauguration speech on Monday afternoon.

Mr Trump had promised a far more friendly crypto policy stance than the previous administration but in the long speech that announced his plans in the coming days, he didn’t make mention of Bitcoin or crypto.

Just over the weekend, the President ignited a speculative frenzy with the Friday evening launch of the Trump meme coin, which was shortly followed by a meme coin associated with his wife, Melania.

Dogecoin (DOGE) crumbled yesterday by 6.3 per cent to $0.3419, Solana (SOL) slumped by 4.7 per cent to $235.32, Cardano (ADA) fell by 3.6 per cent to $0.9777, and Litecoin (LTC) moderated by 1.9 per cent to $114.98.

Further, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 1.7 per cent to $3,241.36, Binance Coin (BNB) retreated by 1.4 per cent to $693.30, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 1.2 per cent to $3.06, and Bitcoin (BTC) tumbled by 0.8 per cent to $101,746.99, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.