Economy
Wall Street Puts Slew of US Economic Data in Focus
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Thursday, with stocks likely to extend the upward move seen over the past few sessions.
The upward momentum on Wall Street comes as traders digest a slew of U.S. economic data, including a Labor Department report showing producer prices rose in line with economist estimates in January.
After initially moving to the downside, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading session on Wednesday. With the strong upward move on the day, the major averages added to the gains posted in the three previous sessions.
The major averages ended the session near their best levels of the day. The Dow jumped 253.04 points or 1 percent at 24,893.49, the Nasdaq soared 130.10 points or 1.9 percent to 7,143.62 and the S&P 500 surged up 35.69 points or 1.3 percent to 2,698.63.
Stocks initially moved lower following the release of a report from the Labor Department showing a bigger than expected increase in consumer prices in the month of January.
The Labor Department said its consumer price index climbed by 0.5 percent in January after edging up by a revised 0.2 percent in December.
Economists had expected consumer prices to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.1 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.
Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer prices rose by 0.3 percent in January after inching up by 0.2 percent in December. Core prices had been expected to increase by 0.2 percent.
Compared to the same month a year ago, consumer prices were up by 2.1 percent in January, while core consumer prices were up by 1.8 percent.
“Once temporary factors drop out of the annual comparison in the spring, core CPI inflation will be close to 2.5% and we expect it to trend higher from there,” said Michael Pearce, Senior U.S. Economist at Capital Economics.
He added, “We expect that will force the Fed to raise rates a total of four times this year, beginning with a 25bp rise in interest rates at the March FOMC meeting.”
A separate report from the Commerce Department showed an unexpected decrease in retail sales in the month of January.
The Commerce Department said retail sales fell by 0.3 percent in January compared to economist estimates for a 0.2 percent uptick in sales.
Revised data showed that retail sales were unchanged in December compared to the previously reported 0.4 percent increase.
Excluding a decrease in sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales were unchanged in January after inching up by 0.1 percent in December. Ex-auto sales had been expected to climb by 0.4 percent.
Gold stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 5 percent. The rally by gold stocks came amid a sharp increase by the price of the precious metal.
Considerable strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 3 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.
Biotechnology, banking, semiconductor and energy stocks also saw significant strength amid broad based buying interest on Wall Street
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has defended its decision to allow Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to invest in the parent companies of their custodians, insisting that adequate safeguards are in place to protect contributors’ funds.
The director-general of the pension regulator, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, speaking on Tuesday during the Meet the Press Briefing at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the commission’s decision to relax the investment restriction followed a comprehensive risk assessment that found minimal conflict of interest.
She explained that under PenCom’s investment regulations, PFAs are only permitted to invest pension assets in carefully selected instruments that meet stringent criteria, including profitability, strong credit ratings and proven track records.
According to her, the commission regularly reviews its investment regulations, conducts routine examinations and spot checks on PFAs to ensure strict compliance with established risk management guidelines.
“PFAs cannot just go into the stock market and buy any kind of stock. There are strict guidelines. Companies must demonstrate profitability, have a proven track record and satisfy other criteria before pension funds can invest,” she said.
Ms Oloworaran noted that each PFA also operates under the oversight of a board, an investment committee and a risk management committee, providing additional layers of governance to safeguard contributors’ funds.
She said PenCom recently issued a circular allowing PFAs to invest in the parent companies of their custodians after determining that the potential conflict of interest was negligible.
The PenCom boss explained that the parent companies involved are largely Tier-1 banks, including First Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Zenith Bank, which she described as A-rated institutions with strong financial foundations.
She said the policy was intended to widen investment opportunities for pension funds without compromising safety.
Using Stanbic IBTC as an example, Ms Oloworaran explained that if its custodian is Zenith Bank, the previous restriction prevented the pension administrator from investing in Zenith Bank shares despite the bank’s strong performance.
“We reviewed the risks and any potential conflict of interest and found the risks to be very low. That is why we opened that investment window,” she said.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Analysts at Meristem Research have predicted that the inflation rate for June 2026 in Nigeria should marginally rise to 15.95 per cent on a year-on-year basis from the 15.93 per cent reported in May 2026.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is expected to release inflation numbers for last month later today, Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
In its report sighted by Business Post, Meristem Research said it expects inflationary pressures to re-emerge across key economies in the near term, as the re-escalation of the US-Iran conflict has reignited upward pressure on global oil prices.
It disclosed that this marks a sharp reversal from most of June, when the ceasefire between the two countries helped drive oil prices lower, raising expectations of some relief on the inflation front.
With conflicts now flaring up again, oil prices are likely to increase again, and the anticipated easing in energy-driven inflation may not materialise as broadly as earlier envisaged.
“Nonetheless, some relief is likely from the food segment, where robust supply conditions across major producing regions and softening demand should continue to ease food price pressures,” it stated.
The team also explained that it projected a 15.95 per cent inflation rate because of the lingering effects of persistent food price pressures.
“However, we expect core inflation to moderate as the sharp reversal in energy prices begins to filter through to transportation, distribution, and other energy-related costs, easing underlying price pressures.
“On a month-on-month basis, the combined effect of lower petrol prices, a relatively stable Naira, and the gradual pass-through of reduced energy costs across the supply chain should exert further downward pressure on inflation.
“Based on our assessment, food inflation is expected to remain the key swing factor, as seasonal pre-harvest supply constraints are likely to offset some of the gains from lower logistics costs,” it said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and Afriland Properties Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.61 per cent on Tuesday, July 14.
CSCS Plc saw its stock value drop N9.08 to close at N82.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N91.48 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc slid by 17 Kobo to sell at N15.00 per unit versus N15.70 per unit.
The losses recorded by the two securities pulled back the market capitalisation by N41.64 billion to N2.546 trillion from N2.587 trillion, and cracked the NASD Security Index (NSI) by 69.36 points to 4,242.31 points from 4,311.67 points.
It was observed that the exchange witnessed two price advancers during the session, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which gained N1.37 to end at N151.37 per share compared with the previous day’s N150.00 per share, and Food Concepts Plc chalked up 5 Kobo to settle at N2.50 per unit versus N2.45 per unit.
The volume of securities traded by market participants surged by 50.7 per cent to 13.7 million units from the previous 9.1 million units, while the value of securities went down by 79.7 per cent to N65.2 million from N320.4 million, and the number of deals crashed by 3.6 per cent to 27 deals from the previous session’s 28 deals.
At the close of transactions, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with the sale of 3.4 billion units for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc, which exchanged 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units transacted for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the trading day 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 traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
