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Layla Ali Othman, the wife of Plateau State House of Representatives member, Yusuf Gagdi, has blasted Nigerians for criticising her husband for buying a new Sport Utility Vehicle, SUV, for their daughter, Aisha, as a secondary school graduation’s gift.

The lawmaker gifted his daughter the luxurious car, to celebrate her secondary school graduation from the Lead British International School Abuja.

The lawmaker faced backlash for gifting the teenager such an expensive car amid Nigeria’s current economic challenges. However, reacting to the criticism in a trending Facebook post on Sunday, Layla stated that they bought the car because they could afford it.

“If you want to give information, you should get your facts right. It is a 2021 model. And yes, it is equally expensive, we are proud of our child, as she did very well in school.

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The decision by President Joe Biden to drop his re-election bid and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris added a new, if not completely unexpected, wrinkle to the outlook for financial markets.

Most of the Democratic party quickly rallied around Harris, although her nomination is by no means guaranteed. Polls show Harris slightly outperforming Biden in a head-to-head with Trump, though the reliability of these polls is highly uncertain given how quickly the landscape has changed in recent days.

Analysts were mixed about the impact Biden’s decision would have on both the election and the market. 

“The prediction market-implied odds of Democrats winning the White House rose a few points but remains slightly less than 40%,” wrote Goldman Sachs analysts in a note Monday. The odds of a “Republican sweep” decreased slightly on Sunday’s news, they noted, “but this remains the most likely outcome by a significant margin.”

Some analysts saw the potential for a breakdown of the “Trump Trade,” which refers to bets on stocks that would benefit from the former President prevailing in November and following through on his promises to curtail government regulation and extend his 2017 tax cuts, some of which are set to expire in 2025. 

“The tightening of the race should see some unwind of the recent ‘Republican sweep’ enthusiasm that helped stocks rally in early/mid July,” wrote analysts at Kinsale Trading.

Analysts at Deutsche Bank, meanwhile, argue the market is more candidate-agnostic than many believe. A tighter race, they argue, raises uncertainty, creating headwinds for equities. Signs that one party is running away with the election, on the other hand, reduce risk.

“In our reading,” they wrote in a note on Friday as implied odds of a Trump victory slipped amid speculation Biden would withdraw from the race, “the market selloff over the last 2 days partly reflects the modest re-tightening in the Presidential race.”

Major stock indexes fell sharply on Thursday and Friday, led by a selloff in technology stocks. A recovery in tech stocks led the broader market higher on Monday.

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IQVIA Holdings (IQV) beat second-quarter earnings expectations and raised its full-year outlook on Monday, sending shares higher.

The life sciences clinical research and analytics organization posted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.64, topping analysts’ expectations of $2.57, per Visible Alpha. Revenue was $3.81 billion, above projections of $3.79 billion. 

The results were driven by IQVIA’s Technology & Analytics Solutions (TAS) segment, which posted year-over-year sales growth of 2.7% to $1.5 billion. 

“IQVIA delivered second-quarter results at the high end of our guidance, driven mainly by better-than-expected TAS performance," Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ari Bousbib said.

Looking ahead, IQVIA narrowed its full-year revenue guidanceto a range of $15.43 billion to $15.53 billion from its prior forecast of $15.33 billion to $15.58 billion. It also raised its adjusted EPS outlook to between $11.10 and $11.30 from $10.95 to $11.25.

Shares of IQVIA jumped 6.6% to $239.45 as of 1:41 p.m. ET Monday to move into positive territory year-to-date.

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A 12-year-old girl has been charged with first-degree m¥rder and tampering with evidence after allegedly k+lling her 8-year-old cousin over an iPhone.

The tragic incident occurred on Monday, July 15, 2024 in Tennessee, USA.

The girl, who hasn’t been publicly named due to her age, was charged after the emergence of disturbing surveillance footage.

In the video, the 12-year-old was allegedly captured s¥ffoc@ting her 8-year-old cousin, named Demeria Hollingswort, in a bunk bed that they were sharing at their grandmother’s home in Humbodlt, Tennessee.

Gibson District Attorney Frederick Agee in a statement said, “After the child di£d, the juvenile cleaned up the victim and repositioned her body.”

A relative told WREG-TV in Memphis that the girls had been arguing over an iPhone after coming from out of town to stay with their grandmother for the summer.

Agee said the defendant would be tried as an adult due to the extreme nature of the case.

“I consider this to be one of the most disturbing vi%lent acts committed by either an adult or juvenile that my office has prosecuted,” Agee added.

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The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were higher at midday Monday, rebounding from last week's tech selloff, with key tech earnings due later in the week. The Dow was little changed.

Nvidia (NVDA) shares rose, with the artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaker reportedly making a version of its Blackwell chip for the Chinese market compliant with U.S. export controls.

Tesla (TSLA) shares also gained ahead of the electric vehicle (EV) maker's earnings report Tuesday, after the company reported encouraging deliveries numbers earlier this month.

IQVIA (IQV) shares jumped after the healthcare industry analytics firm beat profit and sales estimates and raised its outlook on rising demand. 

Vista Outdoor (VSTO) shares gained as the maker and marketer of sporting and outdoor products received a higher offer for its Kinetic Group unit from Prague-based defense company Czechoslovak Group.

Shares of CrowdStrike (CRWD) tumbled, extending Friday's losses following the cybersecurity firm's update that caused a global tech outage. Delta Air Lines (DAL) was among the companies still being impacted by it, and the carrier’s shares were lower as well.

Oil and gold futures fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note advanced. The U.S. dollar rose against the pound but fell to the euro and yen. Prices for most major cryptocurrencies were lower.

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