Economy
Waning Rate Cut Optimism Weigh on US Stocks
By Investors Hub
The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Tuesday, with stocks likely to extend the pullback seen over the two previous sessions.
Waning optimism about a near-term interest rate cut may continue to weigh on the markets following last Friday?s better than expected monthly jobs data.
The Labor Department report showing much stronger than expected job growth in the month of June put a big dent in hopes the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its next meeting later this month.
Nonetheless, upcoming Congressional testimony from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell may keep some traders on the sidelines.
Powell is due to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday and before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.
The Fed chief is not likely to specifically outline the central bank?s plans to lawmakers, but traders are likely to closely analyze his comments for clues about the outlook for rates.
Stocks came under pressure early in the trading session on Monday and remained mostly lower throughout the day. With the drop on the day, the major averages pulled back further off the record closing highs set last Wednesday.
The major averages ended the day firmly in negative territory but off their lows of the session. The Dow slid 115.98 points or 0.4 percent to 26,806.14, the Nasdaq slumped 63.41 points or 0.8 percent to 8,098.38 and the S&P 500 fell 14.46 points or 0.5 percent to 2,975.95.
The weakness on Wall Street partly reflected waning optimism about a near-term interest rate cut following last Friday’s much better than expected jobs data.
CME Group’s FedWatch Tool still points to a rate cut at the next Federal Reserve meeting later this month, although expectations have dramatically shifted toward a 25 basis point cut rather than a 50 basis point cut.
The shift came after the Labor Department’s closely watched report showed employment jumped by 224,000 jobs in June compared to expectations for an increase of 160,000 jobs.
A notable drop by Apple (AAPL) also weighed on the markets, with the tech giant tumbling by 2.1 percent after Rosenblatt Securities downgraded its rating on the company’s stock to Sell from Neutral.
Fellow Dow component Boeing (BA) also fell by 1.3 percent after Saudi Arabia’s flyadeal became the first airline to officially cancel an order for the beleaguered aerospace giant’s 737 MAX aircraft.
Biotechnology stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the trading session, resulting in a 1.8 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index.
The biotechnology index continued to give back ground after ending last Wednesday’s trading at its best closing level in well over two months.
Significant weakness was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 1.4 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.
NetApp (NTAP) led the sector lower after Citigroup downgraded its rating on the data storage provider to Sell from Neutral.
Brokerage, networking, and steel stocks also saw considerable weakness on the day, moving to the downside along with most of the other major sectors.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three securities lifted the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.38 per cent on Friday, July 3, with the NASD Security Index (NSI) up by 58.80 points to 4,307.26 points from 4,248.46 points, and the market capitalisation closing higher by N35.30 billion to N2.585 trillion from N2.549 trillion.
The price gainers were led by 11 Plc, which expanded by N20.05 to close at N220.55 per share compared with the previous day’s N200.50 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc increased by N5.36 to N151.82 per unit from N146.46 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc appreciated by N3.52 to N90.74 per share from N87.22 per share.
Yesterday, the value of transactions surged by 1,431.2 per cent to N160.1 million from the preceding session’s N10.5 million, and the volume of trades rose by 303.7 per cent to 1.8 million units from 440,653 units, while the number of deals decreased by 34.4 per cent to 21 deals from 32 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 70.7 million units transacted for N4.9 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The losing streak on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was halted on Friday after the bourse closed higher by 2.19 per cent at the close of trading activities.
The gains reported by Nigerian stocks were buoyed by renewed bargain-hunting by investors, which resulted in all the key sectors of Customs Street ended in the green territory.
The banking space rose by 2.78 per cent, the insurance counter appreciated by 1.26 per cent, the energy segment expanded by 0.36 per cent, the consumer goods index chalked up 0.06 per cent, and the industrial goods sector grew by 0.05 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 4,918.37 points to 229,240.34 points from 224,321.97 points, and the market capitalisation increased by N3.156 trillion to N147.103 trillion from N143.947 trillion.
Investor sentiment was bullish after 34 stocks ended on the price gainers’ chart and 18 stocks finished on the losers’ log, representing a positive market breadth index.
The quintet of The Initiates, Universal Insurance, DAAR Communications, Omatek, and Airtel Africa surged by 10.00 per cent to sell for N25.85, 88 Kobo, N1.65, N1.76, and N5,274.00, respectively.
On the flip side, International Energy Insurance lost 9.96 per cent to trade at N4.70, Meyer shed 9.95 per cent to close at N18.55, Veritas Kapital dropped 5.07 per cent to finish at N1.31, Fidelity Bank slipped by 2.17 per cent to N18.00, and Jaiz Bank crashed by 1.84 per cent to N28.12.
During the session, a total of 414.7 million equities worth N25.1 billion exchanged hands in 47,106 deals compared with the 855.4 million equities valued at N28.4 billion transacted in the preceding day in 51,609 deals, implying a contraction in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 51.52 per cent, 11.62 per cent, and 8.73 per cent, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira closed flat against the United States Dollar at N1,370.19/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, July 3.
However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment by N2.29 to settle at N1,829.88/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,832.17/£1, and marginally depreciated against the Euro by 4 Kobo to close at N1,568.32/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,568.28/€1.
At the parallel market, the Naira also traded flat against the US Dollar at N1,390/$1, and at the GTBank forex desk, it also maintained stability at N1,832/$1.
Market conditions improved shortly after the following minimal intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through modest Dollar sales, which boosted liquidity and supported stronger trading activity.
Easing pressure came after half-year profit-taking tapered down, while continued stronger policy signals from the central bank add to near-term support.
Deals executed at the official market on Friday came in at $70.430 million across 82 interbank deals, from $85.517 million the previous day.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market continued its recovery after June non-farm payrolls printed at 57,000, less than half the 113,000 consensus, sending the implied probability of a September Federal Reserve rate hike from 64 per cent to 54 per cent and dragging AI stocks sharply lower.
Weak labour data reduces inflationary pressure and, by extension, the Federal Reserve’s justification for holding rates elevated. That transmission mechanism is direct: lower rate-hike odds compress the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like crypto.
Bitcoin regained the $62,000 mark after it rose by 1.3 per cent to $62,475.29.
Cardano (ADA) gained 6.6 per cent to trade at $0.1759, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.5 per cent to $1.14, Ethereum (ETH) expanded by 2.4 per cent to $1,756.82, Dogecoin (DOGE) improved by 2.1 per cent to $0.0768, Solana (SOL) chalked up 1.8 per cent to $82.65, TRON (TRX) increased by 1.5 per cent to $0.3235, and Binance Coin (BNB) soared by 1.4 per cent to $569.12, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
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