Business
U.S. Stocks End Higher
WASHINGTON – U.S. stocks rose Friday, as continued optimism around central-bank accommodation pushed the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 to record closes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 25.62 points, or 0.2%, to 16947.08, topping its previous record of 16945.92 hit on June 10.
The S&P 500 index added 3.39 points, or 0.2%, to 1962.87, a record close.
The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 8.71 points, or 0.2%, to 4368.04.
Friday brought little in the way of economic news, leaving money managers focused on a backdrop that has fueled a steady rise in stocks this year. The U.S. economy has shown slow-but-steady improvement that bulls say will help corporate profits grind higher. Returns on bonds look muted, with interest rates still at historically low levels.Many view the Federal Reserve as likely to remain accommodative, even as the central bank has scaled back its stimulus program. Comments by Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen Wednesday reinforced the view.
“The trade now is, nothing’s going wrong with the Fed’s plan and they haven’t disrupted our expectations that they’re going to continue to provide support for the economy,” said Wayne Lin, who oversees about $10.6 billion as a portfolio manager at Legg Mason’s global asset-allocation group. “In that environment, we’re just going to continue to nudge this thing up a bit.”
Mr. Lin has maintained moderately bullish investment positioning toward U.S. stocks of late.
The week’s gains for stocks were broad-based. The Russell 2000 index of small companies’ shares rose 2.2% for its biggest weekly advance since mid-April. Utilities—seen as relatively safe bets because many pay large dividends—advanced 3% during the period.The market’s recent calm persisted. Friday marked the 45th straight day the S&P 500 closed up or down less than 1%, the longest stretch since 1995.
Friday did see an uptick in volumes, due to what traders refer to as “quadruple witching,” which is the simultaneous expiration of futures on stock indexes and individual stocks, and stock and stock index options, that occurs on the third Friday of the last month of every quarter. About 7.5 billion shares changed hands, 18% above the year-to-date daily average.
Selling in safe-haven bonds pushed the 10-year Treasury note’s yield—which moves inversely to its price—up to 2.625% from Thursday’s 2.622%.
Gold futures added 0.2% to settle at $1,316.20 an ounce, after shooting up 3.2% on Thursday.
Crude-oil futures rose 0.8% to $107.26 a barrel, capping a 4.5% increase over the last two weeks, the biggest such gain in 11 months. The dollar edged higher against the euro and the yen.
European markets were little changed. The Stoxx Europe 600 eased less than 0.1%, but still capped its 12 weekly gain in 14 weeks. The index turned higher on the week following dovish comments from Ms. Yellen.Asian markets were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average slipped 0.1% and suffered the first weekly loss in four weeks. China’s Shanghai Composite edged up 0.1%, to post the first weekly gain in four weeks.
In the corporate arena, Oracle slid 4% after the software firm reported late Thursday fiscal-fourth-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue that fell short of analyst forecasts, amid disappointing sales of new software licenses.
The U.S.-listed shares of U.K. drug maker Shire PLC ran up 16% after the company said it was rejecting an offer from U.S. rival AbbVie Inc. to buy the company for about $46.35 billion. AbbVie, which was spun off from Abbott Laboratories in early 2013, slipped 1.6%.
CarMax rallied 16% after the company reported bigger-than-expected fiscal first-quarter increases in earnings and revenue, citing strength in both the wholesale and retail businesses.
Darden Restaurants dropped 3.9% after the casual-dining restaurant operator reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that missed estimates, as sales at its Olive Garden and Red Lobster chains continued to decline.
– 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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