Economy
Wall Street Opens Lower on Profit Taking
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Tuesday, with stocks likely to give back ground on the heels of recent strength.
Profit taking may contribute to initial weakness on Wall Street following the strong upward move shown by stocks last week.
The advance seen last Friday lifted the Dow and the Nasdaq to their best closing levels in three months and the S&P 500 reached a two-month closing high.
Uncertainty about the potential for a trade deal between the U.S. and China may also weigh on the markets as the next round of trade talks get underway in Washington, D.C. this week.
News that China accused the U.S. of attempting to curtail its technology development by putting pressure on allies to shun networks supplied by Huawei Technologies has raised concerns about tensions between the world?s two largest economies.
Selling pressure may be somewhat subdued, however, with a significant advance by Walmart (WMT) likely to help limit the downside for the markets.
Shares of Walmart are moving notably higher in pre-market trading after the retail giant reported fourth quarter results that exceeded analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines.
Following the mixed performance seen on Thursday, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Friday.
The major averages all closed firmly positive, although the Dow outperformed its counterparts. The Dow soared 443.86 points or 1.7 percent to 25,883.25, the Nasdaq climbed 45.46 points or 0.6 percent to 7,472.41 and the S&P 500 jumped 29.87 points or 1.1 percent to 2,775.60.
With the advance on the day, the major averages all moved higher for the week. The Dow spiked by 3.1 percent, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 shot up by 2.4 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.
The strength on Wall Street came amid continued optimism about trade talks between the U.S. and China, the world’s two largest economies.
A statement from the White House said high level U.S.-China trade talks this week led to “progress between the two parties” but noted “much work remains.”
The White House said the U.S. hopes to see additional progress as discussions at the ministerial and vice-ministerial levels continue in Washington next week.
Traders also reacted positively to news that lawmakers and President Donald Trump managed to avoid another government shutdown.
Trump still decided to declare a national emergency to obtain additional funds for his controversial border wall, although the move is not likely to have an immediate impact as it will face significant legal challenges.
Optimism about the economic outlook was also generated by preliminary data from the University of Michigan showing a bigger than expected rebound in consumer sentiment in the month of February.
The report said the consumer sentiment index climbed to 95.5 in February after tumbling to 91.2 in January. Economists had expected the index to rise to 93.0.
Surveys of Consumers chief economist Richard Curtin said the rebound in consumer sentiment reflected the end of the partial government shutdown as well as a more fundamental shift in consumer expectations due to the Federal Reserve’s pause in raising interest rates.
Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a report from the Federal Reserve showing an unexpected decrease in industrial production in January.
The Fed said industrial production fell by 0.6 percent in January after inching up by a downwardly revised 0.1 percent in December.
Economists had expected production to tick up by 0.1 percent compared to the 0.3 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
The unexpected drop in industrial production came as manufacturing output slumped by 0.9 percent in January after climbing by 0.8 percent in December.
Telecom stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading session, driving the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index up by 2.6 percent. With the jump, the index ended the session at its best closing level in over two months.
Significant strength among emerged among energy stocks, which moved to the upside along with the price of crude oil.
Reflecting the strength in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index spiked by 2.6 percent, the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index shot up by 2.4 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index advanced by 1.6 percent.
Banking stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, with the KBW Bank Index skyrocketing by 2.4 percent to a two-month closing high.
Networking, brokerage, biotechnology, and healthcare stocks also moved notably higher amid broad based buying interest on Wall Street.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has facilitated the recovery of $60 million from Nestoil Limited, with the funds paid to a consortium of lenders as part of efforts to recover the oil and gas company’s outstanding debt.
According to a report by Nairametrics, the payment followed a structured repayment agreement between Nestoil and the lenders, reached during a meeting convened and chaired by EFCC Chairman, Mr Ola Olukoyede.
The meeting brought together Nestoil and the consortium of financial institutions as part of the Commission’s investigation into transactions involving the company and its creditors.
According to sources cited by the publication, operatives of the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 facilitated the recovery as part of investigations into alleged criminal aspects of the transactions.
The $60 million payment represents the first phase of the repayment arrangement, with about $40 million expected to be received in the next tranche.
The consortium, which includes Access Bank, Zenith Bank, Ecobank, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), First Bank of Nigeria, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Union Bank of Nigeria, is expected to continue working with the EFCC and other stakeholders to recover the outstanding obligations.
The lenders had previously stated that Nestoil’s indebtedness stood at approximately $1.084 billion and N469.43 billion as of June 2026.
The debt arose from several bilateral credit facilities extended to Nestoil by the financial institutions from 2010. The facilities were subsequently consolidated under a restructuring arrangement known as the “Global Club”, which became effective in 2023.
However, the lenders alleged that repayment defaults continued after the restructuring, resulting in substantial outstanding obligations.
The dispute escalated in October 2025 when the Federal High Court in Lagos granted a Mareva injunction freezing assets, bank accounts and shares linked to Nestoil, its affiliate Neconde Energy Limited and their promoters.
The court subsequently appointed Mr Abubakar Sulu-Gambari, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), as receiver-manager and authorised him to take possession of identified assets.
Nestoil, however, maintained that it remained operational and described the matter as a commercial dispute being addressed through the courts.
The legal dispute subsequently progressed through the Federal High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court over issues relating to debt recovery, receivership and interim orders.
In June 2026, the Supreme Court set aside interim preservative orders previously granted by the Court of Appeal and directed the parties to return to the lower court to address the substantive issues.
The lenders subsequently clarified that the Supreme Court decision did not extinguish Nestoil’s indebtedness or invalidate the underlying debt recovery process.
The latest $60 million recovery is therefore a significant development in the prolonged debt dispute, although it represents only a fraction of the total amount claimed by the lenders.
Based on the consortium’s previously disclosed dollar-denominated debt of $1.084 billion, the recovered $60 million represents about 5.5 per cent of that amount, excluding the separate N469.43 billion naira obligation.
The recovery could provide a basis for further repayments under the structured arrangement while the EFCC investigation and related legal proceedings continue.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s headline inflation rate cooled to 15.43 per cent in July from 15.91 per cent in June, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) Report.
“In July 2026, the headline inflation rate stood at 15.43 per cent, down from 15.91 per cent in June 2026 and [lower than the] 24.94 per cent in the same month of the preceding year (July 2025),” the stats office said in the report.
This beat the projection from Coronation Asset Management, which predicted that the July 2026 inflation rate should come at 15.80 per cent, lower than the 15.91 per cent recorded in June 2026.
Coronation explained that it projected a pullback in the rate because of “three primary forces: a fresh energy price shock stemming from renewed Strait of Hormuz hostilities and a domestic refinery pricing disruption, seasonal harvest-related relief on food prices, and continued relative exchange rate stability.”
The organisation noted that the disinflation trend in the first half of the year remained last month, with the fuel price shock denting the pace of improvement rather than reversing it.
Also, the headline inflation rate showed a decrease of 0.48 per cent compared to the June 2026 headline inflation rate.
On a month-on-month basis, the inflation in July 2026 was 1.57 per cent, which is 0.09 per cent lower than the rate recorded in June 2026 (1.66 per cent). This means that in July 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in June 2026.
The food inflation rate in July 2026 was 20.31 per cent on a year-on-year basis and stood at 26.20 per cent in the same month of the preceding year (July 2025). On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in July 2026 was 5.56 per cent, up by 1.82 per cent from June 2026 (3.75 per cent).
The ease in headline inflation raises expectations that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may resume cutting interest rates from as early as next month.
By Dipo Olowookere
A total of 12.153 billion shares worth N176.058 billion exchanged hands in 224,146 deals last week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited compared with the 5.359 billion shares valued at N139.053 billion traded in 261,869 deals in the preceding week.
The surge in activity level was triggered by large-ticket transactions in Fortis Global Insurance, Cornerstone Insurance, and Consolidated Hallmark, accounting for 9.488 billion shares worth N36.219 billion in 1,781 deals, contributing 78.07 per cent and 20.57 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.
Analysis showed that the Financial Services space accounted for 11.212 billion shares valued at N88.991 billion in 102,246 deals, contributing 92.25 per cent and 50.55 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
The ICT sector traded 246.127 million shares worth N51.605 billion in 27,169 deals, and the Services industry transacted 198.195 million shares worth N1.995 billion in 13,747 deals.
In the week, 26 equities gained weight as in the previous week, while 59 equities shed weight versus 63 equities a week earlier, and 62 equities remained unchanged versus 58 equities in the previous week.
Trans-Nationwide Express chalked up 32.09 per cent to trade at N2.84, International Energy Insurance rose by 31.68 per cent to N5.32, Sovereign Trust Insurance expanded by 13.77 per cent to N1.90, Chams grew by 12.25 per cent to N4.58, and CWG increased by 9.74 per cent to N21.40.
On the flip side, AVA Capital lost 34.55 per cent to close at N7.20, Unilever Nigeria declined by 18.94 per cent to N118.30, Zichis depreciated by 15.08 per cent to N18.30, Thomas Wyatt slipped by 14.33 per cent to N2.75, and Dangote Sugar weakened by 11.58 per cent to N64.55.
Business Post reports that Customs Street was under selling pressure last week, depleting the All-Share Index (ASI) by 1.20 per cent to 242,619.20 points and cutting the market capitalisation by 1.19 per cent to N156.624 trillion.
In the same vein, all other indices finished lower while the sovereign bond index was flat.
