Economy
Wall Street Opens Higher on Upbeat Chinese Trade Data
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Thursday, with stocks likely to see further upward after recovering from an early sell-off in the previous session.
Early buying interest may be generated in a reaction to a report from the Chinese customs office showing unexpected annual growth in Chinese exports.
The report said Chinese exports in July were up by 3.3 percent compared to the same month a year ago, while economists had expected a 2 percent decrease.
While the report also showed a 5.6 percent year-over-year drop in Chinese imports, that was smaller than the 8.3 percent slump expected by economists.
The data may ease concerns about the impact of the U.S.-China trade dispute even though it reflects a period before the latest escalation in the trade war.
Meanwhile, China?s central bank set the midpoint for the yuan above 7.00 per dollar the first time in a decade, but it was not as weak as many had expected.
Stocks showed a substantial turnaround over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, recovering from an early sell-off to end the day mostly higher. The major averages all climbed into positive territory, although the Dow pulled back below the unchanged line going into the close.
After plunging by nearly 600 points in early trading to hit a two-month intraday low, the Dow showed a significant rebound but still ended the day down 22.45 points or 0.1 percent at 26,007.07.
Meanwhile, the broader Nasdaq and S&P 500 finished the session in positive territory. The tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 29.56 points or 0.3 percent to 7,862.83 and the S&P 500 inched up 2.21 points or 0.1 percent to 2,883.98.
The early sell-off on Wall Street came as the escalating U.S.-China trade war has investors paying close attention to daily developments on the currency front.
The People’s Bank of China set the midpoint for onshore yuan trading at 6.9996 per dollar, slightly stronger than the key 7.00 per dollar level but 0.4 percent weaker than 6.9683 on Tuesday.
The Chinese central bank setting the midpoint for the Chinese currency at a stronger than expected level contributed rally seen on Wall Street on Tuesday.
Negative sentiment was also generated in reaction to disappointing earnings from Disney (DIS), with the entertainment giant slumping by 4.9 percent.
After the close of trading on Tuesday, Disney reported fiscal third quarter results that missed analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
Selling pressure waned shortly after the start of trading, however, inspiring traders to pick up stocks at reduced levels as treasury yields rebounded from an early move to the downside.
Traders were also digesting aggressive interest rate cuts by central banks in India, New Zealand and Thailand amid concerns about the global impact of the U.S.-China trade war.
Citing the overseas rate cuts, President Donald Trump claimed in a series of posts on Twitter that the problem is “not China” but rather a Federal Reserve that is “too proud to admit their mistake of acting too fast and tightening too much (and that I was right!)”
“They must Cut Rates bigger and faster, and stop their ridiculous quantitative tightening NOW,” Trump tweeted. “Yield curve is at too wide a margin, and no inflation!”
“Incompetence is a terrible thing to watch, especially when things could be taken care of sooo easily,” he added. “We will WIN anyway, but it would be much easier if the Fed understood, which they don’t, that we are competing against other countries, all of whom want to do well at our expense!”
Gold stocks showed a significant move to the upside on the day, driving the Philadelphia Gold And Silver Index up by 1.8 percent. With the jump, the index ended the session at its best closing level in well over a year. The rally by gold stocks came amid a sharp increase by the price of the precious metal.
Considerable strength also emerged among chemical stocks, as reflected by the 1.4 percent gain posted by the S&P Chemical Sector Index. The index rebounded after ending the previous session at a two-month closing low.
Housing and commercial real estate stocks also moved higher over the course of the session, while notable weakness remained visible among financial, oil service, and telecom stocks.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) says the rollout of electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) will strengthen tax compliance, curb revenue leakages and improve transparency in tax administration as it moves to fully digitise the country’s tax system.
The Project Lead for the NRS e-Invoicing Project, Mr Mohammed Bawa, stated this at the DigiTax E-Invoicing Compliance Breakfast Session held in Lagos on Wednesday.
The event, organised by DigiTax, an NRS-accredited e-invoicing platform, formed part of efforts to support the agency’s ongoing education and sensitisation campaign on the e-invoicing mandate.
Mr Bawa said the initiative aligns with global trends in tax digitisation and is expected to help improve Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio, which remains one of the lowest in Africa.
According to him, the system will provide the NRS with greater visibility into transactions across sectors, formalise activities within the informal economy and standardise invoice formats nationwide using globally recognised invoice schemas.
He added that e-invoicing would improve operational efficiency for both businesses and tax authorities while supporting the NRS’ transition from manual and electronic tax administration processes to a fully automated system-to-system interaction model.
Mr Bawa noted that the legal framework for implementation is backed by the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, which prescribes penalties for non-compliance.
He disclosed that the NRS has completed onboarding large taxpayers and is preparing to enforce compliance with defaulting entities.
According to him, medium taxpayers are expected to begin compliance in the third quarter of 2026, while onboarding of emerging taxpayers will commence in 2027, with full adoption targeted for all taxpayers by the end of 2028.
Mr Bawa urged taxpayers yet to be onboarded onto the platform to begin the process and work with accredited service providers to ensure compliance.
On his part, Country Director of DigiTax Nigeria, Mr Olumide Akinsola, urged businesses to look beyond their internal systems and assess the compliance status of suppliers and counterparties.
He warned that businesses whose suppliers fail to transmit invoices through the MBS platform risk losing eligibility to claim Value Added Tax (VAT) input credits on such transactions, describing the resulting supply chain exposure as a significant commercial risk that many organisations have yet to quantify.
Mr Akinsola also announced the launch of DigiTax’s white paper, The State of E-Invoicing Readiness in Nigeria, which examines compliance adoption trends and the readiness gap across different taxpayer segments.
He added that DigiTax operates in Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), noting that experience from those markets shows businesses that integrate early are better positioned to avoid disruptions when enforcement begins.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The names of about 100,000 companies registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) are about to be deleted for inactivity, especially for failing to file their annual tax returns, Business Post reports.
This information was disclosed by the CAC via a notice signed by its management on Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
The list contains organisations like the Nigeria-Poland Chamber of Trade Invest Ltd, Alariwo of Afrika Ltd, Ovation Sports International, First Union Pension Fund Administrators, Investopedia Limited, Baptist High School Abuja Ltd, and Yobe Aluminium Manufacturing Industries Ltd, amongst others.
In the statement, the commission said its decision to strike off the names of the affected firms from the register aligns with the provisions of Section 692(3) (3) and (4) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020.
However, the affected companies can still salvage the situation by filing all outstanding annual returns and regularising their records within 90 days.
“Please note that companies that fail to comply within the stipulated timeline shall be struck off the register without further notice,” it declared, expressing its continued commitment to providing prompt and efficient registration and regulatory services to the satisfaction of its valued customers.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange gained 1.75 per cent on Wednesday, July 15, pushing the NASD Security Index (NSI) up by 74.20 points to 4,316.51 points from 4,242.31 points, as the market capitalisation added N44.54 billion to finish at N2.590 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N2.546 trillion.
During the session, there was an 11.5 per cent rise in the value of transactions at midweek to N72.7 million from the preceding session’s N65.2 million, as there was a 3.7 per cent growth in the number of deals to 28 deals from the previous session’s 27 deals, while the volume of securities slumped by 64.5 per cent to 4.9 million units from 13.7 million units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended as the most active security by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, with the second spot occupied by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc after selling 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and the third position was taken by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which exchanged 74.3 million units for N5.3 billion.
GNI Plc also finished the trading day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units traded for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million.
Business Post reports that the market breadth index was negative yesterday, as there were two price gainers and three price losers.
11 Plc added N22.36 to its value to close at N250.00 per share versus N227.64 per share, and CSCS Plc improved by N7.95 to N90.35 per unit from N82.40 per unit.
On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N1.37 to end at N150.00 per share versus N151.37 per share, UBN Property Plc depreciated by 6 Kobo to N1.75 per unit from N1.81 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc dropped 1 Kobo to close at N2.49 per share versus N2.50 per share.
