Economy
US Stocks Risk Another Lacklustre Performance
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a roughly flat opening on Thursday, with stocks poised to extend the lacklustre performance seen in the previous session. Continued uncertainty about the outlook for President Donald Trump’s policy agenda may lead to choppy trading on Wall Street.
Speeches by several Federal Reserve officials are likely to attract some attention, as traders look for clues about the outlook for interest rates.
Following the strength seen on Tuesday, stocks turned in a lacklustre performance during trading on Wednesday. The major averages eventually finished the day on opposite sides of the unchanged line.
While the Dow edged down 42.18 points or 0.2 percent to 20,659.32, the Nasdaq rose 22.41 points or 0.4 percent to 5,897.55 and the S&P 500 inched up 2.56 points or 0.1 percent to 2,361.13.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make any significant moves amid continued uncertainty about President Donald Trump’s policy agenda following the failure of the Republican health care bill.
Developments in the U.K. were also in focus after the British government sent a notification letter to European Council President Donald Tusk formally beginning the country’s exit from the European Union.
The move to trigger the Article 50 process to leave the EU comes after Britons voted last June in favour of the so-called Brexit.
“This is an historic moment, from which there can be no turning back. Britain is leaving the European Union,” said British Prime Minister Theresa May. “We are going to make our own decisions and our own laws. We are going to take control of the things that matter most to us.”
“And we are going to take this opportunity to build a stronger, fairer Britain — a country that our children and grandchildren are proud to call home,” she added. “That is our ambition and our opportunity, and that is what this government is determined to do.”
On the U.S. economic front, the National Association of Realtors released a report showing that pending home sales rebounded by much more than expected in the month of February.
NAR said its pending home sales index spiked by 5.5 percent to 112.3 in February from 106.4 in January. Economists had expected pending home sales to jump by 2.4 percent.
A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.
With the bigger than expected increase, the index surged up to its highest level since reaching 113.6 last April and is at its second highest level since May of 2006.
Most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves on the day, contributing to the lacklustre close by the broader markets.
Energy stocks saw considerable strength, however, with an increase by the price of crude oil generating buying interest. The increase by the price of crude oil came following the release of a report from the Energy Information Administration showing a smaller than expected weekly increase in crude oil inventories.
Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index surged up by 2.4 percent, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index jumped by 2.1 percent, and the NYSE Arca Oil & Gas Index advanced by 1.3 percent.
After initially showing a lack of direction, gold stocks also moved higher over the course of the trading session. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index climbed by 1.2 percent. The gains by gold stocks came despite a decrease by the price of the precious metal.
Computer hardware, biotechnology and retail stocks also saw notable strength on the day, while weakness was visible among airline stocks.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
