Economy
Wall Street Opens Lower on Trade Deal Uncertainty
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a lower opening on Monday, with stocks likely to give back ground following the rally seen over the three previous sessions.
Profit taking may contribute to initial weakness on Wall Street, as traders cash in on the recent gains amid renewed uncertainty about a trade deal with China.
President Donald Trump announced on Friday that the U.S. and China have reached a ?very substantial phase one deal,? although reports this morning suggest China wants another round of talks before signing the agreement.
A person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News that China may send a delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He to finalize a written deal that could be signed at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit next month in Chile.
Another person told Bloomberg China wants Trump to also scrap a planned tariff hike in December in addition to the hike scheduled for this week.
Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as the Columbus Day holiday may keep some traders away from their desks.
Stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading session on Friday, extending the strong upward move seen over the two previous sessions. With the rally over the past few sessions, the major averages more than offset the steep drop seen on Monday and Tuesday.
The major averages pulled back off their best levels going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Dow jumped 319.92 points or 1.2 percent to 26,816.59, the Nasdaq spiked 106.26 points or 1.3 percent to 8,057.04 and the S&P 500 surged up 32.14 points or 1.1 percent to 2,970.27.
For the week, the Dow and the Nasdaq both advanced by 0.9 percent, while the S&P 500 climbed by 0.6 percent.
The rally on Wall Street came as traders expressed continued optimism about U.S.-China trade talks, with Trump announcing late in the trading day that the two economic superpowers have reached a “very substantial phase one deal.”
Trump said the deal includes up to $40 to $50 billion in Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural products as well as Chinese concessions on intellectual property and financial services.
In exchange for the concessions by China, the U.S. has agreed to hold off on an increase in tariffs originally scheduled for next week.
Trump said the agreement would take about three weeks to write and would likely be signed by both sides by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Chile in November.
“Phase two will start almost immediately” after the first phase is signed, Trump said in an Oval Office meeting with China’s lead negotiator, Vice Premier Liu He.
Stocks spiked early in the session as Trump made upbeat comments about the negotiations on Twitter, tweeting, “Good things are happening at China Trade Talk Meeting. Warmer feelings than in recent past, more like the Old Days.”
Trump noted in a subsequent tweet that a potential trade deal with China would not have to go through the “very long and politically complex Congressional Approval Process.”
Oil service stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading session, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 4.7 percent. The rally by oil service stocks came amid a jump by the price of crude oil.
Optimism about a U.S.-China trade deal also contributed to significant strength among steel stocks, as reflected by the 3.9 percent spike by the NYSE Arca Steel Index.
Semiconductor, transportation, chemical, and financial stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, reflecting broad based buying interest.
Meanwhile, gold stocks were among the few groups that bucked the uptrend, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index plunging by 4.6 percent. The sell-off by gold stocks came amid a steep drop by the price of the precious metal.
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.
