Economy
US Stocks Open Sharply Higher on Renewed Optimism About Trade
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.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Workers at Seplat Energy will resume work after a strike action that impacted production was called off by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) over the weekend, with the company issuing written commitments on pay rises.
Top employees began an indefinite strike last Friday as talks over a collective bargaining agreement and staff welfare issues broke down. The action came at a time when Nigeria is seeking to maximise production amid rising global oil prices.
According to Reuters, in an April 4 letter to the chief executive of Seplat Nigeria, Mr Roger Brown, PENGASSAN said it had directed members at the local energy firm to immediately suspend industrial action after negotiations resumed with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited. Other less-skilled workers are covered by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and did not partake in the strike with PENGASSAN.
The union said talks on a 2026 collective bargaining agreement would continue, with the aim of concluding outstanding issues by April 13. However, according to the publication, the union did not disclose more details about its financial demands.
“We can confirm that the union has suspended its notice of industrial action to allow negotiations to conclude on outstanding items within an agreed framework,” Seplat spokesperson, Mr Ogechukwu Udeagha, said, adding that “operations are recommencing at our various locations.”
Seplat Energy’s group production averaged 131,506 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2025, according to its latest audited results. That is the equivalent of around 7 per cent–9 per cent of Nigeria’s total liquids production.
The company expects output to rise to 155,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, making any sustained disruption particularly sensitive for Nigeria’s supply outlook. This comes as it seeks to scale production while remaining a major supplier of gas to Nigeria’s domestic power market.
With the company’s output expected to rise, any prolonged disruption would have significantly impacted Nigeria’s oil supply and fiscal outlook.
By Dipo Olowookere
The weekly turnover of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited shrank by 27.70 per cent or 1.094 billion equities, partly due to the inability of market participants to trade last Friday as a result of the Good Friday public holiday declared by the federal government.
In the week, investors bought and sold 2.856 billion equities worth N113.597 billion in 215,287 deals versus the 3.950 billion equities valued at N201.312 billion transacted in 359,642 deals in the preceding week.
The activity chart was led by the financial services industry with 1.811 billion shares valued at N61.901 billion in 86,818 deals, contributing 63.41 per cent and 54.49 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
The services sector traded 299.895 million stocks worth N2.966 billion in 13,797 deals, and the ICT segment exchanged 183.233 million equities for N14.654 billion in 25,287 deals.
Wema Bank, Access Holdings, and Secure Electronic Technology accounted for 734.659 million shares worth N14.134 billion in 12,319 deals, contributing 25.72 per cent and 12.44 per cent to the total trading volume and value apiece.
Data from the NGX said 29 stocks gained weight versus 47 stocks of the previous week, as 57 shares lost weight versus 45 shares in the preceding week, while 62 equities closed flat versus 56 equities a week earlier.
Multiverse led the gainers’ chart after it gained 20.66 per cent to trade at N20.15, UPDC REIT appreciated by 15.49 per cent to N8.20, International Energy Insurance chalked up 12.54 per cent to quote at N3.32, Austin Laz grew by 10.47 per cent to N4.43, and Unilever Nigeria rose by 10.00 per cent to N103.40.
Conversely, Secure Electronic Technology topped the losers’ table after it lost 21.54 per cent to close at N1.02, John Holt declined by 18.47 per cent to N15.45, May and Baker depreciated by 16.57 per cent to N35.00, Aluminium Extrusion moderated by 16.27 per cent to N10.55, and Legend Internet slipped by 16.00 per cent to N6.30.
Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 0.39 per cent to 201,698,89 points, and the market capitalisation rose by 0.65 per cent to N129.806 trillion.
In the same vein, all other indices finished higher apart from the main board, insurance, MERI Value, consumer goods, industrial goods and growth indices, which went down by 0.29 per cent, 4.25 per cent, 0.36 per cent, 1.74 per cent, 0.24 per cent, and 0.06 per cent, respectively, while the sovereign bond index closed flat.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 3.8 per cent week-on-week decline in the 14th trading week of 2026, which had only four trading sessions.
This happened because of the public holiday observed on Friday for Easter celebrations in Nigeria and across the globe.
Last week, the market capitalisation of the bourse went down by N95.36 billion to N2.417 trillion from N2.512 trillion in Week 13, while the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) shrank by 159.39 points to 4,040.30 points from 4,199.69 points in the previous week.
In the week, there were five price losers and eight price losers led by 11 Plc, which crumbled by N94.57 to N256.60 per unit from N351.17 per unit.
MRS Oil Plc lost N39.00 to close at N171.00 per share from N210.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N17 to N93.00 per unit from N110.00 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc shed N2.10 to close at N78.00 per share versus N80.10 per share.
Further, NASD Plc dropped N4.14 to end at N37.36 per unit versus N41.50 per unit, UBN Property Plc crashed by 22 Kobo to N1.98 per share from N2.20 per share, Food Concepts Plc slid by 13 Kobo to N2.87 per unit from N3.00 per unit, and Capital Bancorp Plc contracted by 10 Kobo to N1.90 per share from N2.00 per share.
On the flip side, IPWA Plc gained 55 Kobo to sell at N6.06 per unit versus N5.51 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc appreciated by 7 Kobo to N3.25 per share from N3.18 per share, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc improved by 5 Kobo to 57 Kobo per unit from 52 Kobo per unit, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc grew by 2 Kobo to 52 Kobo per share from 50 Kobo per share, and Acorn Petroleum Plc moved up by 1 Kobo to N1.34 per unit from N1.33 per unit.
The volume of transactions witnessed a 5,490.9 per cent surge last week to 3.5 billion units from 62.7 million units, and the value of transactions soared by 437.7 per cent to N9.7 billion from N1.7 billion. These trades were completed in 163 deals and involved 20 stocks.
The most traded stock by value was GNI Plc with N8.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with N630.5 million, Geo-Fluids Plc with N162.7 million, CSCS Plc with N57.5 million, and Friesland Campina Wamco Nigeria Plc with N37.1 million.
The most trased stock by volume was also GNI Plc with 3.4 billion units, Geo-Fluids Plc traded 50.1 million units, Okitipupa Plc transacted 21.0 million units, UBN Property Plc quoted 2.5 million units, and CSCS Plc sold 0.73 million units.
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