Economy

Wall Street Opens Flat, Upward Momentum May Persist

Published

5 years ago

26/11/2019

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a roughly flat opening on Tuesday following the climb to record highs seen in the previous session.

Traders may stick to the sidelines as they wait for further developments on the U.S.-China trade front, with optimism about a potential deal helping push stocks higher on Monday.

A statement from China?s Commerce Ministry revealed Chinese Vice Premier Liu He held a phone call with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin earlier today.

The statement said the two sides discussed how to resolve each other’s core concerns, reached consensus on how to resolve related issues, and agreed to maintain communication on the remaining issues in the first phase of agreement negotiations.

The upcoming Thanksgiving Day holiday may also contribute to light trading activity, with some traders choosing to make their moves on Monday before heading out for an extended break.

Nonetheless, recent upward momentum may lead to continued strength on Wall Street, as the way higher has recently seemed to be the path of least resistance.

Stocks showed a strong move to the upside over the course of the trading session on Monday, more than offsetting the modest pullback seen last week. With the upward move, the major averages ended the day at new record closing highs.

The major averages reached new highs going into the close of trading. The Dow climbed 190.85 points or 0.7 percent to 28,066.47, the Nasdaq surged up 112.60 points or 1.3 percent to 8,632.49 and the S&P 500 advanced 23.35 points or 0.8 percent to 3,133.64.

The strength on Wall Street partly reflected continued optimism about a U.S.-China trade agreement after a tabloid run by China’s ruling Communist Party discounted “negative” media reports and said the economic superpowers are “very close” to a phase one deal.

The state-backed Global Times also said China remains committed to continuing talks for a phase two or even a phase three deal with the United States.

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have also recently made positive comments about a potential trade deal despite reports of complications arising that could delay the agreement until next year.

News on the merger-and-acquisition front also generated positive sentiment, as the deals suggest companies remain confident even with the uncertainty created by the U.S.-China trade dispute.

Shares of The Medicines Company (MDCO) moved sharply higher after the biopharmaceutical company agreed to be acquired by Swiss drugmaker Novartis for $9.7 billion or $85 per share in cash.

Jeweler Tiffany (TIF) also showed a strong move to the upside after agreeing to be acquired by France’s LVMH for $16.2 billion or $135 per share in cash.

Discount broker Charles Schwab (SCHW) also reached an agreement to acquire rival TD Ameritrade (AMTD) in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $26 billion.

Biotechnology stocks turned in some of the market’s best performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index surging up by 2.5 percent to a seven-month closing high.

Significant strength also emerged among oil service stocks, as reflected by the 2.5 percent jump by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index. The strength in the sector came amid a modest increase by the price of crude oil.

Semiconductor stocks also saw considerable strength, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 2.4 percent.

Nvidia (NVDA) posted a standout gain after Morgan Stanley upgraded the graphics chip maker’s stock to Overweight from Equal-weight.

Brokerage, computer hardware, tobacco and steel stocks also saw notable strength on the day, while gold stocks came under pressure amid a decrease by the price of the precious metal.

Economy

NASD OTC Bourse Declines Further by 0.16%

Published

7 hours ago

22/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.16 per cent decline on Tuesday, January 21, extending its loss this week to two.

This further depleted the market capitalisation of the alternative stock exchange by N1.65 billion at the close of transactions to N1.071 trillion from the N1.073 trillion it closed in the preceding session.

In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) slid by 4.79 points to wrap the session at 3,100.33 points compared with 3,105.12 points recorded in the previous session.

The bourse ended with two price losers yesterday led by Geo Fluids Plc, which gave up 32 Kobo to trade at N4.38 per share versus Monday’s closing price of N4.70 per share and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which depreciated by 15 Kobo to close at N39.50 per unit compared with the previous day’s N39.65 per unit.

On the second trading day of the week, the number of deal carried out slightly went up by 8.3 per cent to 13 deals from the 12 deals executed at the previous trading session.

Also, the value of transactions increased by 97.2 per cent to N4.5 million from the N2.5 million recorded a day earlier, while the volume of securities traded in the session declined by 71.6 per cent to 183,780 units from the 767,610 units recorded on Monday.

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most traded equity by value (year-to-date) with 4.1 million units worth N162.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.1 million units valued at N44.0 million, and 11 Plc with 55,358 sold for N14.5 million.

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

Economy

Naira Crashes to N1,552/$1 at NAFEM, N1,670/$1 at Black Market

Published

8 hours ago

22/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Pressure further mounted on the Nigerian Naira in the different segments of the foreign exchange market on Tuesday, making its value to shrink against the United States Dollar at the close of business.

In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the domestic currency crashed against its American counterpart during the session by 0.18 per cent or N2.73 to settle at N1,552.78/$1, in contrast to Monday’s closing price of N1,550.05/1.

But against the Pound Sterling and the Euro, the local currency traded flat in the official market yesterday at N1,906.98/£1 and N1,613.48/€1, respectively.

As for the black market segment, the Naira weakened against the Dollar on Tuesday by N5 to sell for N1,670/$1 compared with the preceding day’s value of N1,665/$1.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market heaved a sigh of relief during the session as President Donald Trump created a crypto task force dedicated to “developing a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets.”

The task force will be led by Commissioner Hester Peirce, a long-time advocate for the crypto industry, and will work closely with the crypto industry to develop regulations. This is after Mr Gary Gensler, an opponent of crypto, officially stepped down as chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after Mr Trump’s term started.

The task force will also work with Congress, providing “technical assistance” as it crafts crypto regulations.

Solana (SOL) recorded a 9.2 per cent growth to sell at $257.09, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 7.6 per cent to $0.36789, Ripple (XRP) added 4.0 per cent to finish at $3.18, and Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 3.7 per cent to $105,515.03.

Further, Binance Coin (BNB) appreciated by 2.8 per cent to close at $699.01, Cardano jumped by 2.1 per cent to trade at $0.9972, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 2.0 per cent to settle at $3,308.21, and Litecoin (LTC) went up by 1.5 per cent to end at $116.72, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.

Economy

Brent Falls Below $80 as US Signals Boost to Oil Output

Published

9 hours ago

22/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The price of the Brent crude oil grade went below the $80 mark on Tuesday after it shed 86 cents or 1.1 per cent to trade at $79.29 per barrel after the US President, Mr Donald Trump, signaled the possibility of his country boosting its oil production.

This move raised concerns of higher US output in a market widely expected to be oversupplied this year, with the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures falling by $1.99 or 2.6 per cent during the session to $75.89 per barrel.

On his first day in office, the US President signed an executive order to unleash America’s energy by easing the barriers to oil and gas extraction and production and revoking a series of climate orders by former President Joe Biden.

As pledged in the campaign, the executive order follows the declaration of a national energy emergency.

The declaration includes measures to expedite energy infrastructure delivery, and emergency approvals by agencies “to facilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources, including, but not limited to, on Federal lands.”

This will likely confirm expectations that the oil market will be oversupplied this year after weak economic activity and energy transition efforts weighed heavily on demand in top-consuming nations the US and China.

President Trump also said he was considering imposing 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico from February 1, rather than on his first day in office as promised.

The delay helped ease concerns of an immediate tightening of the market among US refiners, many of which are geared to process the type of crude oil supplied by these countries.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reiterated on Tuesday its expectations for oil prices to decline both this year and next.

On its part, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) projects robust demand growth in the world both this year and next.

In 2025, OPEC says demand is set to grow by 1.4 million barrels per day leaving its projection unchanged from the December report.

However, losses were also limited after the US president said his administration would “probably” stop buying oil from Venezuela. The U.S. is the second-biggest buyer of Venezuelan oil after China.

Also weighing on prices on Tuesday was the potential end to the shipping disruption in the Red Sea.

Yemen’s Houthis said on Monday they will limit their attacks on commercial vessels to Israel-linked ships provided the Gaza ceasefire is fully implemented.