AfDB Approves $15m Loan for InfraCredit to Support Nigeria’s Infrastructure Financing – This Day The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $15 million subordinated loan to Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company Limited (InfraCredit) to strengthen its capital base and help close Nigeria’s infrastructure financing gap. The financing would enable InfraCredit leverage domestic capital markets to bolster access to long-term local currency infrastructure financing in Nigeria.
NNPCL begins oil supply to Dangote Refinery next week - Punch As the Dangote Refinery begins operations next week, the supply of 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to the facility is going to commence, the Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPCL, Mele Kyari, announced on Thursday.
Global
African Development Bank approves $11.7m to facilitate access to fertilizers for African farmers - BNR
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved a $11.7 million budgetary allocation to the African Fertilizer Financing Mechanism for its 2023 operations. The approval adds up to $16.4 million extended to the Facility to support its 2023 budget. It includes $4.7 million, which was carried over from the previous year.
IMF says Ghana targeting $10.5bn in external debt relief - Bloomberg
Emerging markets stocks are significantly cheaper than developed world equities, as shown by the price/book multiples of MSCI's World index and EM index. This valuation gap has not been observed since the late 1990s crises, presenting an attractive investment opportunity in emerging markets.
Home prices posted largest annual drop in over 11 years - WSJ
China’s loans pushing the world’s poorest countries to brink of collapse - YF
A week ago, markets placed the odds of a pause at June’s meeting at about 85%.
Today, those chances are down closer to 60% as an increasingly divided Fed sends mixed signals.
Yesterday, Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan suggested she was prepared to lift the benchmark rate by 25bps at the next meeting.
Separately, Fed Governor Philip Jefferson presented the case for a wait-and-see approach.
In any case, the Fed’s path from here is anything but certain and all eyes will be on Jerome Powell’s speech for more clues.
Initial jobless claims fell by the most since November 2021 last week.
The decline was largely due to a drop in fraudulent claims out of Massachusetts which inflated the previous week’s data.
The 4-week average edged down while continuing claims fell to the lowest since early March.
Overall, the data point to a labor market that remains relatively tight which could keep upward pressure on wages.
Sales of existing US homes declined 3.4% in April to the lowest in 3 months.
Monthly sales have dipped in 14 out of the last 15 months.
On a year-over-year basis, sales are down 23% and have shown a decline for 20 consecutive months.
Meanwhile, the median price of those homes fell by the most in 11 years, declining 1.7% in April from a year earlier to $388,800.
The S&P 500 closed at its highest level of the year yesterday.
Investors shrugged off hawkish comments from Fed officials on optimism of a debt-ceiling resolution as early as next week.
The index closed at its highest since August while its tech-heavy counterpart–the Nasdaq–similarly reached new YTD highs.
Gains were driven by Big Tech where Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Netflix all notched new 52-week highs.
BofA strategist Michael Hartnett, however, isn’t sold on the breakout: he advises selling the S&P at 4,200, pointing to an AI “baby bubble” and a Fed that isn’t done hiking.
The rise in popularity of 0DTE (zero days to expiry) options is affecting the overall behavior of the market.
New studies show the phenomenon is making the market more volatile on a minute-to-minute basis while having little progress day-to-day.
These options may be making the market more susceptible to intraday turnarounds, or mean reversions.
0DTE options now account for more than 40% of the total options volume for the S&P 500.
Crude oil prices are headed for their first weekly gain in over a month.
As with stocks, fading risk of a US default is outweighing fears of potential rate hikes which would hurt demand.
Additionally, Chinese oil refinery throughput data from April indicate strong domestic demand for fuel.
Weekly Investment Watchlist
The Week Ahead:
Monday: US NY Empire manufacturing comes in at -31.8; est: -4.0.
Tuesday: Retail sales, industrial & manufacturing production, business inventories, NAHB housing market index
Wednesday: US housing starts for April comes in at 2.2% up to 1.4m; est -1.4%.
Thursday: US existing home salesfell -3.4% MoM, now at a 4.28m rate, US jobless claims come in at 242k; est 254k.
Friday: Powell speech
Investment Tip of The Day
Fees and expenses can eat into your investment returns over time, so it's important to be mindful of them when managing your portfolio. Look for low-cost investment options such as index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and consider using a fee-only financial advisor who charges a flat rate rather than taking a percentage of your assets.
Meme of the Day
Disclaimer: The information contained in this report is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice. The information is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed.
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