Economy
Wall Street Opens Higher on on Earnings News
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Wednesday, with stocks likely to extend the strong upward move seen late in the previous session.
Early buying interest may be generated in reaction to a report from payroll processor ADP showing stronger than expected private sector job growth in the month of October.
The upbeat private sector jobs data is likely to generate optimism about the Labor Department?s more closely watched monthly jobs report due to be released on Friday.
A positive reaction to earnings news from some big-name companies is also likely to benefit the markets, with General Motors (GM) and Facebook (FB) moving notably higher in pre-market trading after reporting better than expected quarterly results.
After fluctuating for much of the session, stocks moved significantly higher late in the trading day on Tuesday. The major averages climbed firmly into positive territory after turning lower over the course of the trading session on Monday.
The major averages saw further upside going into the close, ending the day just off their highs of the session. The Dow soared 431.72 points or 1.8 percent to 24,874.64, the Nasdaq jumped 111.36 points or 1.6 percent to 7,161.65 and the S&P 500 surged up 41.38 points or 1.6 percent to 2,682.63.
The sharply higher close on Wall Street came after the pullback seen on Monday dragged the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 down to six-month closing lows and the Dow fell to its lowest closing level in well over three months.
Traders once again looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels after bargain hunting efforts in the previous session were thwarted by renewed concerns about the trade war between the U.S. and China.
President Donald Trump’s prediction the U.S. will reach a “great deal” with China on trade offset some of the concerns, although the president also warned of more tariffs if a deal is not possible.
“I think that we will make a great deal with China and it has to be great, because they’ve drained our country,” Trump told Laura Ingraham of Fox News on Monday.
The comments from Trump came after a report from Bloomberg said the U.S. is preparing to announce tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports if next month’s talks between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping fail to ease the trade war.
Trump and Xi are expected to meet on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, beginning November 30th.
Positive sentiment may also have been generated by a report from the Conference Board showing a continued increase in consumer confidence in the month of September.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to 137.9 in October from a downwardly revised 135.3 in September.
Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to drop to 136.3 from the 138.4 originally reported for the previous month.
With the increase, the consumer confidence index reached its highest level since hitting 142.5 in September of 2000.
Housing stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 5 percent. The index rebounded after ending the previous session at its lowest closing level in well over a year.
Construction materials maker Vulcan Materials (VMC) led the housing sector higher after reporting better than expected third quarter results.
Significant strength was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 4.2 percent jump by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. With the gain, the index also rebounded from a more than one-year closing low.
Computer hardware, transportation, oil, and networking stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, reflecting broad based buying interest on Wall Street.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
On Tuesday, December 17, 2024, President Bola Tinubu will present the 2025 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly.
The size of the 2025 Appropriation Bill is about N47.9 trillion and would be presented to the parliament for approval.
Speaking at the plenary on Thursday, December 12, 2024, the President of the Senate, Mr Godswill Akpabio, said the presentation by Mr Tinubu would be at the chamber of the House of Representatives.
However, it is not certain if the lawmakers will pass the budget before December 31 to allow for a recent budget cycle of January to December.
Recall that on December 3, the senate approved the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) for 2025 to 2027.
This was after the President presented this the National Assembly on November 19 ahead of the consideration of the 2025 budget proposal.
In the MTEF/FSP, the government said it planned to borrow about N9.22 trillion from local and foreign sources to finance the budget deficit.
It pegged the crude oil benchmark at $75 per barrel and a daily oil production of 2.06 million barrels at an exchange rate of N1,400 to $1, and a targeted gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6.4 percent.
At the plenary today, Mr Akpabio informed his colleagues that, “The President has made his intention known to the National Assembly to present the 2025 budget to the joint session of the National Assembly on December 17, 2024.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria added 150,000 barrels per day to its crude production in November 2024 as it continues to pursue an ambitious 2 million barrels per day target.
According to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Nigeria’s oil production rose to 1.48 million barrels per day in November, up from 1.33 million barrels per day the previous month.
In its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR), OPEC revealed that at 1.48 million barrels per day, it is the continent’s leading oil producer, surpassing Algeria’s 908,000 barrels per day and Congo’s 268,000 barrels per day.
Business Post reports that OPEC doesn’t account for condensates, which Nigeria’s accounts for in its broader 2 million barrels per day target.
Despite the surge in production levels, Nigeria is still under producing its 1.5 million barrels per day output quota under a deal involving OPEC and 10 other producers known as OPEC+.
OPEC said it relied on primary data gotten through direct communication, noting that secondary sources reported 1.417 million barrels per day as Nigeria’s crude production in November — up from 1.4 million barrels per day in October.
The data also shows that OPEC’s total oil production among its 12 members rose by 104,000 barrels per day in the month under review.
According to secondary sources, the total of the 12 OPEC countries’ crude oil production averaged 26.66 million barrels per day in November 2024.
“Crude oil output increased mainly in Libya, Iran, and Nigeria, while production in Iraq, Venezuela, and Kuwait decreased”, OPEC said.
“At the same time, total non-OPEC DoC crude oil production averaged 14.01 mb/d in November 2024, which is 219 tb/d higher, m-o-m. Crude oil output increased mainly in Kazakhstan and Malaysia,” the organisation added.
In a related development, OPEC trimmed its 2024 and 2025 oil demand growth forecasts for the fifth time this year.
Now, the cartel expects the world’s oil demand growth at 1.61 million barrels per day from the previously 1.82 million barrels per day.
For 2025, OPEC says the world oil demand growth forecast is now at 1.45 million barrels per day, a 900,000 barrels per day cut from the previously expected 1.54 million barrels per day.
On the changes, OPEC says that the downgrade for this year owes to more bearish data received in the third quarter of 2024 while the projections for next year relate to the potential impact that will arise from US tariffs.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Afriland Properties Plc and Geo-Fluids Plc crashed the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by a marginal 0.06 per cent on Wednesday, December 11 due to profit-taking activities.
The OTC securities exchange experienced a downfall at midweek despite UBN Property Plc posting a price appreciation of 17 Kobo to close at N1.96 per share, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing price of N1.79.
Business Post reports that Afriland Properties Plc slid by N1.14 to finish at N15.80 per unit versus the preceding day’s N16.94 per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc declined by 1 Kobo to trade at N3.92 per share compared with the N3.93 it ended a day earlier.
At the close of transactions, the market capitalisation of the bourse, which measures the total value of securities on the platform, shrank by N650 million to finish at N1.055 trillion compared with the previous day’s N1.056 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went down by 1.86 points to wrap the session at 3,012.50 points compared with 3,014.36 points recorded in the previous session.
The alternative stock market was busy yesterday as the volume of securities traded by investors soared by 146.9 per cent to 5.9 million units from 2.4 million units, as the value of shares transacted by the market participants jumped by 360.9 per cent to N22.5 million from N4.9 million, and the number of deals increased by 50 per cent to 21 deals from 14 deals.
When the bourse closed for the day, Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units valued at N3.9 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units worth N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc 297.5 million units sold for N5.3 million.
Also, Aradel Holdings Plc, which is now listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited after its exit from NASD, remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units sold for N89.2 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.5 million units worth N5.3 billion.
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