Business
U.S. Stocks Edge Lower
NEW YORK — Stocks fell slightly Tuesday, with the S&P 500 pulling back from a near-record high, as investors awaited data on consumer confidence.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 22 points, or 0.1%, to 16186.
The S&P 500 index eased two points, or 0.1%, to 1846, with energy and financial shares leading six of 10 sector groups lower. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained a point, or less than 0.1%, to 4294.
On Monday, the S&P 500 rallied as much as 1.2% to an all-time intraday high of 1858.71, but a late pullback saw gains pared to just 0.6% to 1847.61, missing by a fraction of a point the Jan.15 record closing high of 1848.38. The Dow rose 104 points, or 0.6%, on Monday to close 2.2% below its record high.Stocks have been rallying the past few weeks, in a quick reversal from the selloff seen over the few weeks before, buoyed by stabilization in emerging markets and the belief that recent disappointing U.S. economic data was a result of bad weather in parts of the country. The S&P 500 closed Monday up 6.1% since closing at a 3 1/2-month low on Feb. 3, which marked the end of a 2 1/2-week pullback from the Jan. 15 high.
“We’ve had a tremendous month to get the year back into positive territory,” said Richard Sichel, who oversees $2 billion as chief investment officer at Philadelphia Trust Co.
With little news Tuesday, “the market will likely take a breather, with a small move one way or the other,” Mr. Sichel said. That leaves opportunity to look at individual companies in the news, such as Home Depot and J.P. Morgan Chase, he said.
Dow component Home Depot rose after the home improvement retailer reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that exceeded analyst expectations, and announced a 21% increase in its quarterly dividend.
Fellow blue-chip J.P. Morgan fell after the bank said that 6,000 mortgage jobs may be cut this year as the largest U.S. lender adjusts to slowing demand for home loans and declining profitability in that business.
In economic news, the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City home-price index for December rose 13.4% on a year-over-year basis, compared with expectations of a 13.5% increase.Still on tap, the Conference Board’s consumer-confidence index for February, due at 10 a.m. Eastern, is seen slipping to 80.0 from 80.7 in January.
Jeff Duncan, chief executive officer at Duncan Financial Management, with $300 million in assets under management, said he believes the market will remain stuck in a trading range for quite a while. He said it should be difficult for the market to make a run higher without more earnings momentum. With the weather playing havoc with the economy in recent months, he has been telling clients that it could take months to get a good read on the economy and corporate earnings.
“I believe we’re just going to churn for a while,” Mr. Duncan said. “Not doing anything right now is probably the best medicine.”
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 2.719% from 2.750% late Monday.
Gold futures fell 0.3% to $1,334.20 an ounce, after settling on Monday at a nearly four-month high, while crude-oil futures fell 1.1% to $101.71 a barrel. The dollar lost ground against the euro and the yen.
European markets eased from six-year highs seen the previous session, after European Union economists forecast tepid growth for most of the region through 2015. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.1% after closing Monday at the highest level since Jan. 14, 2008.
Germany’s DAX 30 index lost 0.3% and France’s CAC 40 gave up 0.4%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 slid 0.7%, after closing Monday at the highest level since Dec. 31, 1999.Economists at the European Commission said growth in the euro area is expected to be 1.2% this year and 1.8% in 2015, while euro-zone unemployment is seen staying near record highs of 12% in 2014 and slipping to 11.7% next year.
Separately, data showed that Germany’s economy grew 0.4% in the fourth quarter in adjusted quarterly terms, up from 0.3% the previous quarter and in line with expectations.
Asian markets were mixed. China’s Shanghai Composite fell 2.1%, and has now fallen 5% in four sessions, after the People’s Bank of China drained some liquidity through open-market operations. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average climbed 1.4%.
In other corporate news, Office Depot tumbled after reporting a surprise fourth-quarter adjusted loss, and revenue that increased less than expected, as expenses related to its merger with OfficeMax increased and margins weakened.
Macy’s gained after the department-store operator’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings topped estimates, but revenue fell a bit shy, as bad weather hurt sales in January. Still, the retailer’s chief executive expressed optimism that customers would “return to a more normalized pattern of shopping” as weather improves.
Domino’s Pizza jumped after the pizza chain said its profit grew 19% as international business continued to show strength, though its domestic stores lagged behind in comparison.
– 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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