Business
Jobs Data boost U.S. stocks
NEW YORK – U.S. stocks opened higher as May job gains largely in line with expectations showed the economy continuing on a moderate growth path.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 54 points, or 0.3%, to 16890 in the moments after the opening bell.
The S&P 500 index rose five points, or 0.3%, to 1945. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 16 points, or 0.4%, to 4312.
The U.S. economy added 217,000 jobs in May, the Labor Department reported, just above the 210,000 median estimate of economists in a Wall Street Journal poll. The unemployment rate, obtained in a separate survey, was 6.3%, unchanged from April and a touch below economists’ 6.4% forecast.
“It’s a generally positive number,” said John Brady, managing director at Chicago futures brokerage R.J. O’Brien & Associates.Mr. Brady saw the same kind of “steady-as-she-goes” buying in stock futures that characterized much of the past week’s activity, he said.
Continued signs of improvement in the labor and manufacturing segments of the economy have helped fuel stock indexes to record highs this year, along with steady corporate profit growth and sluggish prospects for returns in other assets such as bonds. The S&P 500 closed at an all-time high Thursday, having risen 5% so far in 2014.
U.S. government bonds rallied after the jobs report was released, although traders attributed the strength to Thursday’s decision by the European Central Bank to ease monetary policy.
“European government bonds are rallying big time and that is benefiting Treasury prices,” said Tom di Galoma, head of fixed-income rates in New York at ED & F Man Capital Markets. “U.S. jobs data was spot on the estimates so no big surprise there.”
In recent trade, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note ticked lower to 2.575% from 2.584% late Thursday. The yield was 2.586% right before the data. When bond yields fall, their prices rise.Gold futures eased 0.1% to $1,252.70 an ounce, while crude oil futures tacked on 0.3% to $102.74 a barrel. The dollar edged higher against the euro, but lost some ground against the yen.
The jobs number should help keep stocks aloft, at least over the longer term, said Brian Jacobsen, chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Funds Management.
“There has been a lot of worry as to whether or not the economic data was going to get better,” said Mr. Jacobsen, whose firm manages about $242 billion. “The data that has been rolling out has supported the notion that the recovery is getting good footing. … I don’t necessarily see [stocks] taking off like a rocket from here, but I do see a lot of support for where we are.”
European markets were broadly higher, extending gains seen Thursday after the European Central Bank’s announcement of stimulus measures on Thursday. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.5%, and was headed for an eighth-straight weekly gain.Asian markets saw weakness, with China’s Shanghai Composite shedding 0.5% and Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average slipping less than 0.1%.
In corporate news, Bank of America slipped 0.1% in premarket trading, pulling back from a six-week high on Thursday, after The Wall Street Journal reported that the banking giant was in talks to pay at least $12 billion to settle civil probes by the Justice Department into the alleged handling of shoddy mortgages.
Data-center equipment provider Arista Networks priced its initial public offering late Thursday at $43 a share, above the expected to range of $36 to $40. The stock is due to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange Friday under the symbol “ANET.”
VeriFone Systems added 3.3% after reporting better-than-forecast quarterly results and announcing a plan to reduce its employee count by 500.
Hertz Global Holdings slumped 10% after the car-rental company said it would have to restate results of the past three years, citing a material weakness in internal financial-reporting controls. Hertz also said fiscal first-quarter results are likely to miss analyst expectations as a result of costs associated with the accounting review.
– WALLSTREET JOURNAL
The Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation has uncovered financial irregularities amounting to ₦514 billion in the 2021 operations of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd).
The revelations were contained in a comprehensive audit report highlighting non-compliance and internal control weaknesses within Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) during the 2021 financial year.
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Breakdown of Infractions
The audit detailed four major financial discrepancies within NNPCL:
“Irregular Deductions: A total of ₦343.64 billion was deducted from domestic crude oil sales at source without proper documentation.
“Sinking Fund Deposits: ₦83.66 billion, categorized as miscellaneous income, was retained in a sinking fund account.
“Unauthorised Refinery Deductions: ₦82.95 billion was deducted from federation revenue purportedly for refinery rehabilitation.
“Unsubstantiated Payments: ₦3.75 billion was flagged for transactions related to petrol sales that lacked proper verification.
The Auditor-General’s report stated that these financial activities violated the 1999 Constitution and the Financial Regulations Act of 2009, underscoring significant lapses in compliance with statutory guidelines.
According to the report, NNPCL generated ₦484.73 billion from domestic crude oil sales in March and May 2021.
However, ₦343.64 billion was deducted for various purposes, including “Value Shortfall,” “Strategic Stock Holding Cost,” and “Pipeline Maintenance.”
The deductions were made unilaterally by NNPCL without adequate documentation or justification.
Additionally, the report flagged ₦50 billion of the net payable amount for May 2021 as unaccounted for, creating a significant gap in the federation’s revenue.
“Audit observed from the review of NNPC SAP payment record for March and May 2021 payments that the sum of ₦484.73bn was the gross amount generated for the sale of domestic crude for the months of March and May 2021.
“The sum of ₦343.64bn from the gross amount was unilaterally deducted from the gross domestic crude sales as NNPC Value shortfall, Strategic Stock Holding Cost, Crude Oil and Products Pipeline Losses, as well as the pipelines maintenance and management costs.
“The details of each of the cost components deducted were not provided for audit review. Hence, the reasons for the deductions could not be justified by the management.”
On the unremitted ₦50 billion from May 2021, the report noted: “In the month of May, the net payable that could have been remitted ought to have been ₦127.075bn, but only the sum of ₦77.075bn was remitted, leaving an unremitted balance of N50bn to the Federation Account, which has remained unaccounted for.”
The report attributed these anomalies to weaknesses in NNPCL’s internal control systems, warning of the risks they pose to public funds.
It read, “The above anomalies could be attributed to weaknesses in the internal control system at NNPC, now NNPC Ltd. This is a potential loss of Federation revenue, diversion of public funds, or misapplication or misappropriation of funds.”
The success of the maiden edition of the Lagos Shopping Festival (LSF), Africa’s first 72-hour non-stop commerce and entertainment event has been credited to the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
This is the view of Managing Director/Chief Strategist of Chain Reactions Africa Ltd, Israel Jaiye Opayemi, one of the main organisers of the event.
According to Opayemi, though Chain Reactions Africa conceptualised the event, the festival could be rightly described as the Governor’s baby and owes its success to his leadership. “Firstly, the Lagos Shopping Festival could not have come to fruition if the Governor did not buy into our audacious plan when we first presented the idea to him during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Secondly, it was the Governor’s exemplary leadership of the project as its Chief Marketing Officer which attracted the buy-in of key sponsors like Zenith Bank, Tolaram Group, First Bank Plc, and Guinness Nigeria Plc,” Opayemi revealed.
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While the duo of Zenith Bank and First Bank provided their bank on wheel platforms for buyers at the Lagos Shopping Festival, they also supported the Vendors with special Point of Sale Machines with which to process payments from buyers. The banks were also seen marketing their diverse banking products to guests within the shopping arena.
For Tolaram, it was a time to support the citizens and give back to society. Guests at the Lagos Shopping Festival were freely given some of the products of the group such as PowerOil, Indomie and Kellogg’s packaged into goodie bags and given out to prospective buyers at the shopping arena. The Children’s Arena was however activated by Indomie with the children entertained by Santa Claus within a well-equipped arena manned by the Indomie Brands team and the Lagos State Safety Marshalls. The children were daily treated to free Indomie meals daily and given various gifts to go home with.
On its part, Guinness Nigeria came through as the real life of the Nigerian party by organizing product sampling activation for the teeming guests at the festival using brands such as Singleton, Johnnie Walker, Ciroc, Don Royale and Captain Morgan to deliver pleasant experiences to guests aside from Guinness and Malta Guinness.
While unveiling the identity of the festival last month, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had thanked the management of Zenith Bank Plc, Tolaram Africa Group, Guinness Nigeria Plc and First Bank of Nigeria for supporting the idea of a Lagos Shopping Festival, describing it as a value addition on the state’s tourism calendar and the overall efforts to grow the State’s GDP. The Governor further said, “I must specially acknowledge your pioneering sponsorship role. It is easy for a corporate sponsor to jump on the sponsorship band wagon of an already established festival and fund it. But you are supporting the maiden edition of this Lagos Shopping Festival with us. The competition is watching you now. Do not build this brand with us and yield the space for the competition to take over. I do hope you would all commit long term to this brilliant initiative.”
On his part, Girish Sharma, CEO Guinness Nigeria Plc, expressed enthusiasm for the initiative. “Lagos is the commercial heartbeat of Nigeria and Africa’s entertainment capital, and the Lagos Shopping Festival captures its essence. We see opportunities in this initiative because it is a creative fusion of commerce and entertainment. This partnership reflects our dedication to fostering economic opportunities and support the nation’s vibrant entertainment industry.”
A first-of-its-kind, the festival was a convergence of commerce and entertainment, bringing together buyers and sellers in the MSME ecosystem, and hordes of fun-seekers who were entertained with thrilling performances by A-list entertainers, including Adekunle Gold, Wande Coal, Teni, Young Jonn, BNXN, Ayo Maff, SB Live and EmmaOMG. The list also included some of Nigeria’s most sought after DJs such as DJ Neptune, DJ YK Mule, DJ Baddo while Gbenga Adeyinka the 1st and Larry J dished out rib-cracking comedy performances.
Held from 23rd to 25th Day of December 2024, at the iconic Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan Stadium, Lagos, the Lagos Shopping Festival saw thousands of fans throng the main venue and select Lagos malls during the three-day period to bag the latest bargains from local and top global brands.
The Nigerian Naira experienced mixed movements in the foreign exchange markets on Monday, as it depreciated to N1,665 per dollar in the parallel market, down from N1,660 per dollar recorded over the weekend.
In contrast, the official exchange rate saw the Naira appreciate to N1,534.56 per dollar, improving slightly from N1,535 per dollar last Friday, according to data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
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This reflects a marginal gain of 44 kobo in the official Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM).
As a result, the gap between the parallel market rate and the NFEM rate widened to N130.44 per dollar, compared to the N125 per dollar margin recorded over the weekend.
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