Business
U.S. Stocks Edge Lower as Investors Pause
NEW YORK – Stocks edged down slightly at mid-morning, as investors paused to assess the market’s string of recent gains and a batch of corporate deal news.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 27 points, or 0.2%, to 16920. The S&P 500 index was nearly flat at 1962. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell two points, or 0.1%, to 4366.
The modest move comes on the heels of a recent steady grind higher in stocks. The S&P 500 posted its third straight all-time high and its 22nd record of the year on Friday, closing up 6.2% on the year. The Dow closed up 2.2% for the year.The slow climb comes as trading volumes have tumbled and stocks have failed to make big moves. Monday was on track to be the 46th straight session in which the S&P 500 closed with a move of less than 1%—the longest such stretch since 1995.
The data calendar was light, except for a report showing that existing home sales increased 4.9% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million, according to the National Association of Realtors. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a rate of 4.75 million for the month.
Sean McCarthy, regional chief investment officer at Wells Fargo Private Bank, said he has been encouraged by the recent string of upbeat economic data following a slowdown earlier in the year. He said he expects stocks broadly to post modest single-digit gains this year as long as the economy continues to improve and corporate earnings grow as expected.
“What the market has wanted to see is good economic data, and overall we’re getting that in the second quarter,” said Mr. McCarthy, whose firm manages $170 billion. He said his firm remains parked in shares of companies that benefit from an economic rebound, including industrial and technology companies, as well as shares of companies in developed markets overseas.The yield on the 10-year Treasury note eased slightly to 2.602% from 2.625% late Friday.
Gold futures were little changed at $1,315.70 an ounce, after surging 3.3% last week, the biggest weekly gain in four months. Crude oil futures fell 0.1% to $106.70 a barrel. The dollar edged higher against the euro but lost some ground against the yen.
MarketWatch’s Victor Reklaitis joins Simon Constable on the News Hub to discuss which stocks to watch today, including Oracle, Integrys Energy Group and General Electric. Photo: Getty
In corporate news, Micros Systems rose 3.4% after The Wall Street Journal reported that Oracle ORCL +0.67% is close to sealing a deal to buy the software company for about $5 billion. Oracle edged up 0.9%.
Integrys Energy TEG +12.45% Group surged 14.5% after the company agreed to be acquired by Wisconsin Energy WEC -2.96% for $5.71 billion in cash and stock. Wisconsin Energy shares eased 1%.
Lululemon Athletica LULU +3.38% rallied 2.2% after The Wall Street Journal reported the yoga gear maker’s founder, Dennis “Chip” Wilson, is working with bankers at Goldman Sachs to find a way to gain more influence over the company’s operations.
Central Garden & Pet climbed 8.6% after Harbinger Group HRG +1.08% said it has offered to buy the company for about $505 million, or $1.1 billion including debt. Harbinger also offered, as an alternative to buying the entire company, to buy just Central’s pet business for $750 million. Harbinger shares rose 1.7%.
In Europe, Markit’s preliminary June purchasing managers index for the euro zone, which measures activity across both the manufacturing and services sectors, fell to 52.8 from 53.5 in May, missing expectations of 53.3. Readings above 50 signal expansion. The main weak spot was France, where activity contracted for a second straight month, and at a quickening pace.
European markets declined following the disappointing euro-zone data. The Stoxx Europe 600 slipped 0.3%, after rising last week to post the 12th weekly gain in 14 weeks.
“Investors had been expecting a much stronger acceleration in economic activity” in recent months, said François Savary, who oversees around $10 billion of assets as chief investment officer at Swiss bank Reyl. “This puts a question mark against the expected improvement in corporate earnings for the second quarter.”
France’s CAC 40 index lost 0.2%, Germany’s DAX 30 gave up 0.3% and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 fell 0.3%.
Meanwhile, HSBC’s preliminary manufacturing purchasing managers index for China rose to a seven-month high of 50.8 in June from 49.4 in May. That marked the first time this year that activity expanded from the previous month.
Asian markets were mixed as investors assessed the upbeat data out of China. The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.1% on expectations that the data might urge policy makers to hold back on stimulus measures. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.1% to close at a near five-month high.
– 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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