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No fewer 90 people have been confirmed d3ad after a petrol-laden tanker exploded on the Kano-Hadejia expressway on Wednesday morning, October 16.

DSP Lawal Adams, spokesperson of the Jigawa police command, in a statement said the deceased were scooping petrol when the tanker exploded at Majiya village of Taura local government area of the state.

He added that resulting inferno left 50 others with varying degrees of inj¥ries.

“Today, a petrol tanker from Port Harcourt going to Nguru in Yobe State reached Majiya village of Taura local government area at around 12:30am when the driver lost control at Majiya and fell down.

The content in the tanker flooded gutters and drainages in the village. The villagers started fetching the fuel where the petrol going in to flame.

As a result, 95 people confirmed d3ad and 50 have been hospitalised receiving treatment,” Adams disclosed.

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The number of people worried they will miss a debt payment in September rose to its highest levels in more than four years, though economists don’t expect consumers to slow their spending. 

A monthly consumer survey from the New York Federal Reserve showed that more than 14% of people believed they could miss a debt payment within the next three months, the most to deliver that answer since April 2020.

The starkest increases in debt worries came from respondents between ages 40 and 60 and those earning more than $100,000 a year, the survey showed.

The data comes as some economists and lenders have raised worries over consumers’ debt levels. In the New York Fed’s most recent quarterly report on household debt, more than 10% of credit card accounts were delinquent by more than 90 days, the highest levels since 2012. The same report also showed almost 5% of borrowers were behind on their auto loans.

Lenders have been noticing consumers’ struggles, with Ally Financial  (ALLY) recently warning that its auto loan business was struggling as people were having trouble paying bills. Borrowing costs have been an issue for consumers, as the Federal Reserve held interest rates at decades-high levels for more than a year before lowering rates in September. 

Despite pressure from elevated inflation and interest rates, consumers have continued to spend, with retail sales continuing to perform better than economist expectations. That trend is expected to continue through the holiday season, with the National Retail Federation projecting an increase of between 2.5% and 3.5% in holiday sales this year.

“Concerns about the amount of credit are valid, but really not considered at a critical level at this time,” said NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz. “Yes, there has been a share of credit card debt transitioning into delinquency, but still, they remain relatively small.”

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New York Registry Shares of ASML Holding (ASML) plunged Tuesday after the company accidentally released its third-quarter results a day earlier than expected.

"Due to a technical error, information relating to our Q3 2024 results was erroneously published earlier today on part of our website asml.com," the company said. "For transparency, ASML brought forward publication of its full Q3 2024 results to October 15th."

The Dutch semiconductor-gear manufacturer now expects 2025 net sales to land between 30 billion euros and 35 billion euros ($33.1 billion to $38.6 billion). That's within the lower half of the company's previously projected range and below the 36.10-billion-euro consensus estimate of analysts compiled by Visible Alpha. 

For the third quarter, net sales were above estimates at 7.47 billion euros, but net bookings of 2.63 billion euros fell well short of the expected 5.59 billion euros.

"While there continue to be strong developments and upside potential in AI, other market segments are taking longer to recover. It now appears the recovery is more gradual than previously expected," Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Christophe Fouquet said. "This is expected to continue in 2025, which is leading to customer cautiousness."

ASML shares tumbled 17% intraday Tuesday, bringing them into negative territory for the year.

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Nvidia (NVDA) shares fell from yesterday's all-time closing high, and shares of other chipmakers declined, following indications the Biden administration is considering limiting the export of artificial intelligence chips to some countries in the Middle East.

reported that White House officials have discussed putting a cap on export licenses to certain nations because of national security concerns. The focus was on Persian Gulf countries that have a growing interest in AI and the funding to purchase those technologies, the report said, adding that the discussions are in the early stages.

Also weighing on semiconductor stocks was a warning from chipmaker equipment ASML Holding (ASML), which released its third quarter earnings a day earlier than expected.

"While there continue to be strong developments and upside potential in AI, other market segments are taking longer to recover," said CEO Christophe Fouquet. "It now appears the recovery is more gradual than previously expected.” 

ASML predicted 2025 sales of EUR30 billion to EUR35 billion ($32.7 billion to $38.1 billion), which is in the lower half of the range of its previous guidance.

New York-traded shares of ASML sank some 16%, pulling them into the red for the year. The PHLX index of semiconductor stocks fell more than 4%. Nvidia's shares were down nearly 5%, though they remain up more than 160% in 2024.

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Charles Schwab (SCHW) shares soared Tuesday as the financial services company reported better third-quarter results than analysts had expected, and also lifted its projections for full-year revenue.

The investment management firm reported $4.85 billion in total revenue, up about 5% from the same time last year and higher than analysts had expected, per estimates compiled by Visible Alpha. Profits were also higher than expected, and jumped 25% to $1.41 billion, while net interest income (NII) fell by a few million to $2.22 billion, narrowly above estimates.

The company also lifted its revenue projection for the full year, calling for a 2% to 3% increase, up from previous estimates of flat to up 2%.

CFO Mike Verdeschi said in Tuesday's earnings call that the update was due to "a higher starting balance for transactional cash balances and reduced supplemental funding balances at the bank."

"We anticipate coming into 2025 with good momentum and expect it to further build in the year ahead," Verdeschi said, noting that the "usual considerations" of potential changes like macroeconomic factors and interest rates could impact Schwab's performance.

Charles Schwab shares were up about 7% early Tuesday afternoon, trading at their highest level in three months. The stock is now back into positive territory for the year.

The stock plunged in mid-July following the firm's second-quarter report, when CEO Walt Bettinger said it planned to reduce the size of its bank to improve profitability.

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Shares of UnitedHealth Group (UNH) tumbled Tuesday after the company lowered its full-year profit outlook to reflect the impact of a cyberattack against its Change Healthcare division in February.

The health insurer dropped its earnings per share (EPS) forecast to between $15.50 and $15.75 from $15.95 to $16.40. On an adjusted basis, the company said it has absorbed an estimated 75 cents per share of disruption from the cyberattack, 10 cents more than its prior-quarter estimate. 

In February, the company announced that Change Healthcare’s information technology systems had been hit with "a suspected nation-state associated cyber security threat" that disrupted medical billing and care authorization portals.

Shares of the company fell more than 9% at the opening bell Tuesday—enough that the stock is pulling the Dow Jones Industrial Average into the red nearly by itself. The average is down despite only a third of its 30 components trading lower, with next-biggest decliner, Intel (INTC), down just 2%. Recently, UnitedHealth shares were 7% lower at $561.16.

In the third quarter, UnitedHealth's revenue grew 9% year-over-year to $100.8 billion, beating the Street's analyst consensus from Visible Alpha. Net income was $6.1 billion, $6.51 per share, which missed expectations.

The company attributed its revenue growth to “strong expansion in people served at Optum and UnitedHealthcare.” Optum revenue rose more than 12% year-over-year to $63.9 billion, just above expectations.

Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth, includes a mail-order pharmacy division, a health savings accounts (HSA) arm and a health-care provider payment processing operation.

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