Stock market further gains by 0.47%
Nigeria’s stock market’s performance indicators – the All-Share Index and Market Capitalisation –increased further by 0.47 percent or N131billion
on Thursday to 51,618.73 points and N27.828trillion respectively as against the preceding day low of 51,377.21 points and N27.697trillion.
Stocks like FBN Holdings, Livestock Feeds, Union Bank and others helped the market’s positive close. Investors have been cherry-picking fundamentally sound names like these after the market recorded remarkable loss last week.
Click to read more:Stock market furthers gains by 0.47%
Egypt’s central bank keeps interest rates steady
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has decided to keep its overnight interest rates unchanged despite inflationary pressure caused by the ongoing war in Ukraine.
According to the Monetary Policy Committee of the bank, the lending rate and the deposit rate will stay at 12.25 percent and 11.25 percent, respectively.
Reuters, which carried out a poll of 17 economists to determine their opinion on the recent CBE rates decision, found out that most expected the bank to raise the deposit rate by 50 basis points and the lending rate by 25 basis points.
Meanwhile, the current increase in commodity prices and falling Egyptian pounds have driven the country’s urban consumer inflation rate to 13.5 percent in May as against the 13.1 percent recorded in April.
Read also: Rising inflation, interest rates threaten jobs market recovery
Consumer prices push Japan’s inflation rate higher
Japan’s consumer prices rose for the ninth time in a row, with annual inflation reaching 2.5 percent in May 2022. Thus, food inflation hit its highest level in seven years. For the month of May, food inflation registered 4.1 percent, as against 4 percent in April.
A result that was in line with the actual rate.
According to trading economics, inflation pressures also came from the cost of fuel, light, and water charges (14.4% vs 15.7%), clothes (0.9% vs 0.8%), housing (0.5% vs 0.4%), furniture (3.6% vs 2.3%), education (0.8% vs 0.9%), culture & recreation (1.7% vs 1.6%), and miscellaneous (1.1% vs 1.2%).
On the contrary, transport costs fell by-0.8 percent as against-0.2 percent, while the cost of medical care fell by-0.8 percent as against-0.7 percent.
Market undeterred by Fed hawkish comments
The US equity markets closed higher on Thursday, as traders stayed positive despite encouraging statements from the Federal Reserve policymakers and disappointing data.
As a result, the Nasdaq, S&P 500, and Dow Jones gained 1.6 percent, 1 percent, and 0.64 percent, respectively, to close at 11,232 bps, 3,795 bps, and 30,677 bps.
This follows outstanding performances from the consumer staples, utilities, real estate, and health care sectors. On the other hand, energy stocks declined on lower oil prices.
On company stocks, major US airline companies suffered a one-day loss as American Airlines fell 3 percent after announcing that it was going to drop service to four small US cities, while United Airlines dropped 5 percent after it cut back on flights out of Newark by 12 percent. This is according to Trading Economics.
Biden expresses shock over Supreme Court ruling to expand gun rights
President Joe Biden has expressed shock and utmost disbelief over the ruling of the Supreme Court to uphold gun laws in the United States.
The Supreme Court expanded its ruling on the much talked about issue after it said that “Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense,” a ruling which is likely to increase the number of guns on the street.
A totally disappointed president called on peace-loving Americans to voice their concerns and anger over the ruling. “I call on Americans across the country to make their voices heard on gun safety. Lives are on the line, “he said.
According to the Associated Press, about one-quarter of the U.S. population lives in states expected to be affected by the ruling, which struck down a New York gun law.
This highly controversial judgement is the first major gun decision by the Supreme Court, which split the court 6-3, with conservatives in the court taking the majority votes.
