Economy

Wall Street Opens Higher on Trade Talks Optimism

Published

5 years ago

20/09/2019

By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a modestly higher opening on Friday after the major averages closed mixed for two straight sessions.

The markets may benefit from optimism that stimulus packages by central banks around the world will help bolster slowing economic growth.

Traders also remain hopeful about an eventual end to the U.S.-China trade war, with deputy U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators resuming talks for the first time in almost two months on Thursday.

The deputy-level talks this week are expected to help pave the way for more productive high-level U.S.-China trade talks next month.

On the trade front, a report from Politico says the Trump administration is exempting hundreds of Chinese products from tariffs imposed last year.

The report, confirmed by CNBC, says the list of exemptions includes products such as Christmas tree lights, plastic straws, and pet supplies.

Politico said the exemptions are less about placating China than they are an effort to provide relief to some U.S. companies who say they have been harmed by the tariffs.

Meanwhile, on a quiet day on the U.S. economic front, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard released a statement explaining his preference for cutting interest rates by 50 basis points at the Fed meeting earlier this week.

Bullard cited signs that U.S. economic growth is expected to slow in the near horizon as well as continued indications of low inflation.

?In light of these developments, I believe that lowering the target range for the federal funds rate by 50 basis points at this time would provide insurance against further declines in expected inflation and a slowing economy subject to elevated downside risks,? Bullard wrote.

He added, ?It is prudent risk management, in my view, to cut the policy rate aggressively now and then later increase it should the downside risks not materialize.?

Stocks saw moderate strength throughout morning trading on Thursday before giving back ground over the course of the afternoon. The major averages pulled back well off their highs before eventually closing mixed for the second straight day.

While the Dow dipped 52.29 points or 0.2 percent to 27,094.79, the Nasdaq inched up 5.49 points or 0.1 percent to 8,182.88 and the S&P 500 crept up 0.06 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 3,006.79.

The lackluster close on Wall Street came amid continued uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates following the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

The Fed lowered interest by 25 basis points as expected but indicated officials are mixed about whether the central bank should cut rates again before the end of the year.

While seven participants expect another rate cut before the end of year, five expect rates to remain unchanged and another five expect rates to be raised back to 2 to 2-1/4 percent.

The central bank reiterated that it will “act as appropriate” to sustain the economic expansion, with a strong labor market and inflation near its symmetric 2 percent objective.

CME Group’s FedWatch Tool currently indicates a mixed outlook for rate cuts at the Fed’s next meetings in October and December.

On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing a modest rebound in initial jobless claims in the week ended September 14th.

The report said initial jobless claims inched up to 208,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 206,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to climb to 213,000.

A separate report from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve showed a modest slowdown in the pace of growth in regional manufacturing activity in the month of September.

The Philly Fed said its diffusion index for current general activity fell to 12.0 in September from 16.8 in August, although a positive reading still indicates growth in regional manufacturing activity. The index had been expected to drop to 11.0.

Looking ahead, the survey’s future general activity index moderated but continues to suggest growth over the next six months.

The National Association of Realtors also released a report showing an unexpected jump in existing home sales in the month of August.

NAR said existing home sales surged up by 1.3 percent to an annual rate of 5.49 million in August after spiking by 2.5 percent to a rate of 5.42 million in July.

The continued increase came as a surprise to economists, who had expected existing home sales to pull back by about 0.4 percent.

“Buyers are finding it hard to resist the current rates,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. “The desire to take advantage of these promising conditions is leading more buyers to the market.”

Tobacco stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading session, dragging the NYSE Arca Tobacco Index down by 2.7 percent. The index tumbled to its lowest closing level in over seven months.

Significant weakness was also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Steel Index.

U.S. Steel (X) plunged by 11.1 percent after lowering its third quarter guidance due to a drop in steel prices and deteriorating market conditions in Europe.

Energy stocks also came under pressure as the price of crude oil pulled back off its early highs, while gold stocks showed a significant move to the upside.

The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surged up by 2.3 percent even though the price of gold for December delivery moved lower on the day.

Notable strength also remained visible among software stocks, with the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index climbing by 1.3 percent.

Microsoft (MSFT) posted a strong gain after raising its quarterly dividend by $0.05 to $0.51 per share and announcing plans to buy back up to $40 billion worth of stock.

Economy

Geo-Fluids, Afriland Properties Lift NASD Bourse by 0.13%

Published

15 hours ago

11/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The duo of Geo-Fluids Plc and Afriland Properties Plc propelled the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange up 0.13 per cent on Friday, January 10.

Investors gained N1.4 billion during the trading session after the market capitalisation of the bourse ended at N1.053 trillion compared with the previous day’s N1.052 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased at the close of business by 4.07 points to wrap the session at 3,073.93 points compared with 3,069.86 points recorded at the previous session.

Geo-Fluids added 25 Kobo to its value to close at N4.85 per unit compared with the previous session’s N4.60 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 24 Kobo to close at N16.25 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N16.01 per share.

There was a 35.4 per cent fall in the volume of securities traded in the session as investors exchanged 4.3 million units compared to 6.6 million units traded in the preceding session, the value of shares traded yesterday went down by 37.4 per cent to N17.2 million from the N27.5 million recorded a day earlier, and the number of deals decreased by 47.2 per cent to 19 deals from the 36 deals recorded in the preceding day.

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 1.9 million units worth N74.2 million, followed by 11 Plc with 12,963 units valued at N3.2 million, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI )Plc with 10.7 million units sold for N2.1 million.

IGI Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 10.6 million units sold for N2.1 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 1.9 million units valued at N74.2 million, and Acorn Petroleum Plc with 1.2 million units worth N1.9 million.

Economy

Naira Depreciates to N1,543/$1 at Official Market

Published

15 hours ago

11/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira witnessed a depreciation on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, January 10.

According to data from the FMDQ Exchange, the local currency weakened against the greenback yesterday by 0.12 per cent or N1.80 to sell for N1,543.03/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,541.23/$1.

The pressure on the domestic currency came as the access granted to the Bureaux de Change (BDC) operators by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to purchase FX from the official market through the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) platform prepares to end next week, precisely on January 19.

The CBN had given a 42-day window to the operators to access the platform to help stabilise the Naira in December, and this expires next week.

On Friday, the Nigerian currency tumbled against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N30.78 to sell for N1,889.29/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,858.51/£1, but gained N5.48 against the Euro to finish at N1,583.81/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s rate of N1,589.29/€1.

As for the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira remained stable against the US Dollar during the trading session at N1,650/$1, according to data obtained by Business Post.

In the cryptocurrency market, it was bearish as the US economy added 256,000 jobs last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday, topping forecasts for 160,000 and up from 212,000 in November (revised from an originally reported 227,000).

However, the readings came after a number of recent economic reports triggered a broad-market pullback across asset classes such as crypto as investors quickly scaled back the idea of a continued series of Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2025.

Cardano (ADA) fell by 3.6 per cent to trade at $0.921, Solana (SOL) slumped by 2.8 per cent to $185.93, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 1.4 per cent to $3,233.27, Litecoin (LTC) lost 1.3 per cent to finish at $103.62, Dogecoin (DOGE) shed 0.5 per cent to sell at $0.3315, Bitcoin (BTC), waned by 0.2 per cent to $94,154.43, and Binance Coin (BNB) went south by 0.1 per cent to $693.30.

On the flip side, Ripple (XRP) jumped by 1.5 per cent to settle at $2.34, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) sold flat at $1.00 each.

Economy

Customs Street Crumbles by 0.08% as Profit-Takers Take Charge

Published

15 hours ago

11/01/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

Profit-takers took control of Customs Street on Friday, plunging it by 0.08 per cent at the close of trading activities.

The sell-offs were across all the key sectors of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on last trading session of the week.

The insurance space went down by 1.53 per cent, the banking index depreciated by 0.41 per cent, the consumer goods sector weakened by 0.16 per cent, and the energy counter slumped by 0.08 per cent, while the industrial goods sector closed flat.

At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) tumbled by 79.68 points to 105,451.06 points from 105,530.74 points and the market capitalisation retreated by N48 billion to N64.303 trillion from N64.351 trillion.

Yesterday, investors traded 1.5 billion shares worth N19.4 billion in 12,877 deals compared with the 489.5 million shares worth N13.1 billion transacted in 13,010 deals in the preceding day, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 1.02 deals and a rise in the trading volume and value by 203.14 per cent and 48.09 per cent, respectively.

Wema Bank was the busiest stock with 976.2 million units valued at N9.8 billion, Tantalizers traded 53.0 million units worth 129.6 million, Universal Insurance sold 34.8 million units for N26.8 million, Access Holdings exchanged 33.9 million units valued at N843.8 million, and Nigerian Breweries traded 27.3 million units worth N873.3 million.

The heaviest loss was suffered by Sunu Assurances with a decline of 9.99 per cent to trade at N7.30, Eunisell shed 9.96 per cent to N17.35, SAHCO crumbled by 9.87 per cent to N30.15, DAAR Communications plunged by 9.28 per cent to 88 Kobo, and Sovereign Trust Insurance went down by 7.04 per cent to N1.32.

On the flip side, C&I Leasing gained 10.00 per cent to close at N4.51, Honeywell Flour appreciated by 9.99 per cent to N10.02, Trans Nationwide Express jumped by 9.89 per cent to N2.00, RT Briscoe rose by 9.83 per cent to N2.57, and Secure Electronic Technology grew by 9.46 per cent to 81 Kobo.

Business Post reports that the bourse ended with 33 price gainers and 25 price losers, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.