Economy
Asian Markets Remain Upbeat on Ongoing Talks Between South, North Korea
Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Tuesday as investors digested earnings guidance from tech heavyweight Samsung Electronics and kept an eye on ongoing talks between South Korea and North Korea.
Chinese shares extended gains for the eighth straight session after central bank data showed China’s foreign exchange reserves increased for the eleventh straight month in December.
Foreign exchange reserves rose $20.7 billion to $3.14 trillion at the end of December, reaching the highest level since September of 2016. Chinese producer and consumer price inflation data will be released on Wednesday.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index inched up 5.35 points or 0.2 percent to 3,414.83, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 111.88 points or 0.4 percent to 31,011.41.
Japanese shares hit a 26-year high, with sentiment lifted by record highs on Wall Street overnight and strong December sales reported by clothing company Fast Retailing at its Uniqlo clothing outlets in Japan.
Investors shrugged of the yen’s strength against the dollar after the Bank of Japan trimmed the size of its bond-repurchase offer in its latest market operation.
The Nikkei 225 Index climbed 135.46 points or 0.6 percent to 23,849.99, the highest closing level since November of 1991. The broader Topix index closed 0.5 percent higher at 1,889.29.
Index heavyweight Fast Retailing rose 1.2 percent, while tech stocks Tokyo Electron and TDK Corp gained 1.7 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.
Australian shares rose for a fifth consecutive session, led by miners and financials. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 5.40 points or 0.1 percent to close at 6,135.80, a new five-year high. The broader All Ordinaries Index finished 5 points higher at 6,241.50.
Banks ANZ, Commonwealth and Westpac rose between 0.1 percent and 0.7 percent while energy major Oil Search advanced 1 percent and Origin Energy added 1.5 percent.
Miners BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals Group and South32 climbed around 2 percent each after China’s iron ore futures rose more than 3 percent on Tuesday to hit a four-month high.
Retailer Noni B jumped 4.5 percent after a positive trading update. Meanwhile, Retail Food Group slumped more than 6 percent after issuing another profit warning.
On the economic front, job advertisements in Australia decreased in December after rising in the two previous months, the latest survey from the Australian and New Zealand Banking Group revealed.
A gauge of Australia’s consumer confidence strengthened notably during the week ended January 8th, while the total number of building approvals issued in the country rose a seasonally adjusted 11.7 percent in December.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited recorded its first loss in nine consecutive sessions after it finished in the red territory on Friday by 0.12 per cent.
This decline suffered by Customs Street was caused by profit-taking in the industrial goods sectors, which tumbled by 0.31 per cent at the close of trading activities.
It upturned the gains recorded by the other sectors, as the banking space grew by 1.66 per cent, the insurance counter expanded by 1.05 per cent, the consumer goods index appreciated by 1.03 per cent, and the energy sector gained 0.31 per cent.
When the market ended for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 118.93 points to 101,129.09 points from 101,248.02 points and the market capitalisation shrank by N72 billion to N61.303 trillion from N61.375 trillion it ended a day earlier.
Despite the poor performance, investor sentiment was bullish as the bourse finished with 39 price gainers and 15 price losers, representing a positive market breadth index.
Multiverse lost 9.80 per cent to trade at N4.60, Aradel Holdings tumbled by 9.09 per cent to N664.00, International Energy Insurance slumped by 8.13 per cent to N1.47, Coronation Insurance declined by 4.49 per cent to N1.70, and Nigerian Breweries moderated by 3.33 per cent to N29.00.
On the flip side, UAC Nigeria gained 10.00 per cent to close at N30.25, Honeywell Flour also increased by 10.00 per cent to N6.05, Universal Insurance jumped by 10.00 per cent to 44 Kobo, Learn Africa rose by 9.92 per cent to N3.88, and NAHCO improved by 9.89 per cent to N46.10.
During the session, investors transacted 515.6 million shares valued at N16.5 billion in 11,554 deals compared with the previous day’s 411.4 million shares worth N26.3 billion traded in 10,260 deals a day earlier, indicating a decline in the trading value by 37.26 per cent, and growth in the trading volume and number of deals by 25.33 per cent and 12.61 per cent, respectively.
Zenith Bank was the most traded stock for the session with 60.4 million units valued at N2.7 billion, UBA exchanged 43.5 million units worth N1.5 billion, Sterling Holdings sold 43.3 million units for N216.3 million, Universal Insurance transacted 28.3 million units valued at N12.4 million, and GTCO traded 23.5 million units worth N1.3 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange grew by 0.87 per cent on Friday, December 20, spurred by Okitipupa Plc and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc.
During the session, the market capitalisation of the trading platform added N8.98 billion to settle at N1.043 trillion compared with the preceding day’s value of N1.034 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) ended the day at 3,043.27 points after adding 26.20 points to the previous day’s closing value of 3,017.07 points.
Yesterday, the price of Okitipupa Plc went up by N2.98 to close at N32.72 per unit compared with Thursday’s closing price of N29.74 per unit and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc increased by N3.84 to wrap the session at N43.84 per share versus the preceding day’s N40.00 per share.
Business Post reports that the volume of securities traded at the bourse by investors on the last trading day of the week went up by 182.1 per cent to 1.2 million units from the 419,682 units recorded a day earlier.
In the same vein, the value of shares traded yesterday increased by 2,089.4 per cent to N51.2 million from the N2.3 million achieved in the preceding session, and the number of deals went down by 45.5 per cent to 12 deals from the 22 deals carried out in the previous session.
At the close of business, Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with a turnover of 1.7 billion units valued at N3.9 billion, Okitipupa Plc occupied the second spot with 752.3 million units sold for N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc was in the third position with the sale of 297.7 million units worth N5.3 million.
Also, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with the sale of 108.7 million units worth N89.2 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.3 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc was in third with 297.7 million units sold for N5.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira suffered a marginal decline against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, December 20 by 0.02 per cent or 30 Kobo to settle at N1,541.68/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,541.38/$1.
This marginal slide came as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) moved to alleviate some pressure by allowing Bureaux de Change (BDC) operators to access the official market for a period of 50 days.
The CBN in a notice on Friday said BDC operators would have access to FX at the official market from December 19, 2024, to January 30, 2025, with a weekly cap of $25,000, with transactions requiring upfront funding at prevailing rates and must follow a maximum of 1 per cent spread.
This development trails the launch of the CBN-backed Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) which began operations earlier this month and has led to a rebound in the value of the Naira across markets.
The system is expected to instantly reflect data on all FX transactions conducted in the interbank market and approved by the CBN, giving traders real-time prices and buy-sell orders data.
But against the British Pound Sterling, the domestic currency appreciated yesterday by N6.46 to trade at N1,929.77/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,936.23/£1 and against the Euro, the Nigerian currency depreciated by N60.21 to quote at N1,597.64/€1 versus N1,537.43/€1.
In the parallel market, the Naira maintained stability against the greenback during the trading session at N1,650/$1.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it was bullish on Friday after a hawkish tone in this week’s FOMC meeting flipped market sentiment ahead of the new year.
The positive outcome came as inflation slowed in the US and offered respite to the market, with Cardano (ADA) growing by 9.3 per cent to trade at $0.9825, as Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 8.2 per cent to sell at $0.3463, and Ethereum (ETH) gained 4.1 per cent to settle at $3,535.49.
Further, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 3.9 per cent to $104.94, Solana (SOL) jumped by 3.3 per cent to $199.76, Binance Coin (BNB) soared by 2.2 per cent to $690.84, Ripple (XRP) surged by 1.9 per cent to $2.36, and Bitcoin (BTC) advanced by 0.6 per cent to $98,654.80, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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