Economy

Wall Street Opens Lower on Trade Deal Uncertainty

Published

7 years ago

14/10/2019

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.

Economy

MRS Oil, FrieslandCampina Wamco Shrink NASD Index by 0.68%

Published

6 hours ago

06/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The duo of MRS Oil and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.68 per cent on Friday, June 5.

MRS Plc lost N19.00 during the session to sell at N171.00 per share compared with Thursday’s value of N190.00 per share, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N8.70 to finish at N181.68 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N190.38 per unit.

As a result, the market capitalisation further lost N22.59 billion to close at N2.607 trillion versus the N2.630 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 37.76 points to settle at 4,358.32 points, in contrast to the previous day’s 4,396.08 points.

The alternative stock market closed the last trading day of this week with a price gainer, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gained 6 Kobo to quote at N78.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N78.34 per share. However, it could not prevent the market from going down at the close of business.

Yesterday, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors went down by 50.0 per cent to 140,345 units from the preceding day’s 280,714 units, the value of stocks decreased by 16.5 per cent to N17.9 million from the previous session’s N21.5 million, and the number of deals carried out by market participants fell by 35.7 per cent to 27 deals from the 42 deals recorded on Thursday.

When trading activities closed for the day, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 billion.

GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth 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 valued at N415.7 million.

Economy

NGX Index Rebounds 0.15% on Renewed Interest in Financial Stocks

Published

7 hours ago

06/06/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

Renewed interest in financial stocks and others lifted the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 0.15 per cent on Friday.

Customs Street closed higher yesterday despite the 1.37 per cent loss recorded by the consumer goods sector as a result of profit-taking.

This was offset by gains in the other key sectors of the local bourse, as the insurance counter chalked up 1,14 per cent. The banking space appreciated by 0.90 per cent, the industrial goods segment grew by 0.46 per cent, and the energy sector expanded by 0.01 per cent.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 366.00 points to 242,593.31 points from 242,227.31 points, and the market capitalisation gained N235 billion to close at N155.594 trillion compared with the previous day’s N155.359 trillion.

The trio of International Energy Insurance, Abbey Mortgage Bank, and DAAR Communications improved by 10.00 per cent each yesterday to N7.26, N9.35, and N1.98, respectively, while Zichis advanced by 9.39 per cent to N32.38, with Sovereign Trust Insurance up by 8.70 per cent to N2.50.

On the flip side, Academy Press lost 9.84 per cent to quote at N8.25, University Press depreciated by 9.73 per cent to N5.10, Africa Prudential dipped by 2.63 per cent to N12.95, Chams crumbled by 2.44 per cent to N4.00, and International Breweries slipped by 1.59 per cent to N12.35.

Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive during the session after recording 37 appreciating equities and 14 depreciating equities, implying strong investor sentiment.

Abbey Mortgage Bank led the activity chart with a turnover of 164.1 million units worth N1.5 billion, Ellah Lakes sold 76.7 million units for N767.2 million, Access Holdings transacted 44.8 million units valued at N1.1 billion, Linkage Assurance exchanged 23.0 million units worth N41.2 million, and The Initiates traded 20.2 million units for N562.1 million.

At the close of trades, market participants transacted 608.5 million units worth N32.0 billion in 53,826 deals versus the 588.5 million units valued at N27.9 billion executed in 57,352 deals in the previous session. This showed that the number of deals eased by 6.15 per cent, the volume of transactions rose by 3.40 per cent, and the value of transactions soared by 14.70 per cent.

Economy

Naira Depreciates to N1,362/$1 at Official Market

Published

7 hours ago

06/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira further depreciated against the United States Dollar by N3.46 or 0.25 per cent to N1,362.21/$1 from N1,358.75/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 5.

However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window during the session by N4.47 to trade at N1,823.59/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,828.06/£1, and gained N7.00 against the Euro to sell at N1,574.58/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,581.58/€1.

For another trading session, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the Dollar in the parallel market and the GTBank forex counter on Friday at N1,375/$1 and N1,372/$1, respectively.

The Naira is expected to remain strong in the near term, backed by a rise in external reserves, which are nearing $50 billion, enhancing analysts’ confidence about its outlook in the second half of 2026.

Heightened global uncertainty has reduced the incentive for importers and corporates to demand FX, as cautious trade weighs on import needs. Analysts estimate a $40 billion net FX position for the year, a projection anchored in oil windfall gains.

As for the cryptocurrency market, prices remained depressed following a strong US jobs report that spurred markets to price in higher-for-longer interest rates, sending Treasury yields and the dollar up while hammering stocks, especially AI-related names. Crypto markets saw heavy leverage washouts with about $1.6 billion in positions liquidated over 24 hours.

Ethereum (ETH) gave up 4.9 per cent to trade at $1,584.68, Solana (SOL) fell by 3.3 per cent to $63.22, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 1.9 per cent to $61,333.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 1.8 per cent to $0.0821, and Ripple (XRP) moderated by 1.8 per cent to $1.09.

Further, TRON (TRX) dropped 1.6 per cent to sell at $0.3197, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.0 per cent to $581.18, and Cardano (ADA) declined by 0.4 per cent to $0.1589, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) gained 0.07 to sell at $0.9997, and US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $0.9998.