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
Chevron Nigeria won the second-best exhibitor award at the just-concluded 2026 Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) conference and exhibition at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Biztellers reports that Olajumoke Cecilia Ajayi, FNAPE, NAPE President (2025–2026) and Managing Director/CEO of Ingentia Energies Limited, presented the award to Chevron, during the awards dinner on November 12, 2026.
The award is in recognition of Chevron’s outstanding exhibition, where visitors to its booth, particularly students, took part in Geology/Geophysics presentations and quizzes, word games, and Human Resources/Nigerian Content presentations and quizzes, with gifts for winners and participants.
Commenting on the award, the leader of the Chevron’s exhibition team, Dr. Victor Anyaegbudike, Manager Communications, Chevron companies in Nigeria and the Mid Africa Region, commended NAPE for its commitment to hosting the annual conference and exhibition. He noted that Chevron has operated in Nigeria for over 60 years, contributing to the country’s growth and development and making human investments that yield long-term, transformative returns.
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“At Chevron Nigeria, we drive innovation and investment to open up opportunities for growth, jobs, productivity and lasting value. Forums like the NAPE conference and exhibition matter because they bring government, academia, students and industry together around shared goals and a better understanding of one another,” he remarked.
Victor noted that Chevron is committed to building productive, collaborative and mutually beneficial relationships, grounded in trust, with governments, partners, customers, communities and employees. “We believe that affordable, reliable and ever-cleaner energy is vital to a more prosperous and sustainable world,” he said.
Attendees at the NAPE conference and exhibition included representatives of the Federal Government of Nigeria, industry regulators, industry leaders, academics, and students from tertiary institutions across the country.
The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) recorded a 1.36 per cent weekly gain as its market capitalisation increased to ₦163.80 trillion at the close of trading on Friday, November 13, 2026.
The NGX All-Share Index (ASI) rose to 252,269.16 points, pushing the market’s year-to-date return to 62.11 per cent.
The performance reflected a positive trading week for the equities market, with 43 listed companies recording price appreciation, compared with 29 in the previous week.
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According to the Exchange’s weekly market report, investors traded 8.03 billion shares valued at ₦185.36 billion in 160,836 deals during the week.
This represented a significant increase in trading volume from the 2.83 billion shares exchanged in 192,158 deals in the preceding week, although the total value of transactions declined from ₦208.41 billion.
The Financial Services Industry dominated trading activities, accounting for 4.85 billion shares worth ₦95.79 billion. This represented 60.45 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and 51.68 per cent of turnover value.
The Agriculture Industry followed with 2.24 billion shares valued at ₦22.78 billion, while the Consumer Goods Industry recorded 260.99 million shares worth ₦11.89 billion.
Further details of the market performance showed that 39 equities declined during the week, compared with 57 in the previous week, while 64 equities closed unchanged against 60 recorded in the preceding period.
On the gainers’ chart, Champion Breweries Plc emerged as the best-performing stock, appreciating by 27.27 per cent, while LivingTrust Mortgage Bank Plc recorded the biggest loss, declining by 18.53 per cent.
Meanwhile, trading in Exchange-Traded Products (ETPs) stood at 1.21 million units valued at ₦278.97 million in 3,351 deals, compared with 1.46 million units worth ₦381.82 million in 4,085 deals in the previous week.
The fixed-income segment recorded 156,612 units valued at ₦177.88 million in 41 deals, against 21.99 million units worth ₦20.60 billion in 48 deals recorded in the preceding week.
The Exchange also recorded the listing of two commercial paper instruments issued by Thrive Agric Limited.
The instruments comprised ₦3.17 billion Series 1 (Tranche A) and ₦2.09 billion Series 1 (Tranche B) Commercial Papers, with a combined value of approximately ₦5.26 billion.
Nigeria produced a daily average of 1.687 barrels of crude oil and condensate in October 2026, and met its OPEC quota for the sixth consecutive month.
Data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) showed that in strict crude oil terms (excluding condensate), the country produced an average of 1.51mbpd in October.
This is 101 percent of the 1.5mbpd quota set by OPEC.
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The data, released on Wednesday, also shows that single-day production hit a peak of 1.79 million barrels, while the lowest for the month under review stood at 1.60 million bpd.
The crude oil data (excluding condensate) shows that Nigeria has met its assigned OPEC quota for six straight months, producing 1.53mobpd in May; 1.55mobpd in June; 1.51mobpd in July; 1.5mobpd in August, 1.53mobpd in September and 1.51mobpd in October.
On a month of month basis, however, production dipped by 1.7 percent.
The NUPRC attributed the stable performance in recent months to an enhanced operational stability, supported improved production uptime and crude evacuation efficiency.
The sustained growth recorded in October reflects the continued commitment of operators and industry stakeholders towards improving operational efficiency, maintaining asset integrity, and enhancing production reliability across the Nigerian upstream petroleum sector.
A breakdown of the daily average crude oil and condensate production by terminals/streams during the review month shows that Forcados Terminal accounted for 318.49kbpd while Bonny comes second with 311.02kbpd.
Qua Iboe Terminal recorded an average production of 173.97kbpd of crude oil and condensates while Escravos Oil Terminal posted a daily average of 134.67kbpd.
Bonga ranked as the fifth highest producing terminal, recording an average of 106.65kbpd of crude oil and condensate.
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