Economy

Asian Equities Close Mixed as US Federal Reserve Slashes Rates

Published

6 years ago

31/10/2019

By Investors Hub

Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates, as widely expected but indicated it is ready to hold off on further rate cuts for now.

Investors also digested news that Chile has canceled the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit scheduled to be held in Santiago in mid-November, citing violent protests across the country.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were due to meet at the summit to discuss and possibly sign phase one of a U.S.-China trade deal.

Chinese shares fell after the release of weak economic data. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 10.26 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,929.06, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 239.01 points, or 0.9 percent, to end at 26,906.72.

Chinese factory activity slipped to an eight month-low in October, official data showed. The manufacturing PMI fell to 49.3 from 49.8 a month ago. China’s service sector also logged weaker growth in October, with the corresponding index dipping to 52.8 from 53.7 in September.

Japanese shares eked out modest gains after the Bank of Japan maintained its policy rates but signaled further monetary easing going forward. The central bank said short and long-term interest rates are expected to remain at current or lower levels as long as it is necessary to achieve its price stability target.

A rebound in industrial output also helped underpin investor sentiment. Industrial production in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 1.4 percent month-on-month in September, the government said in a preliminary report. That beat forecasts for an increase of 0.4 percent following the 1.2 percent decline in August.

On a yearly basis, industrial output was up 1.1 percent – again beating expectations for a decline of 0.1 percent following the 4.7 percent drop in the previous month.

The Nikkei 225 Index rose 83.92 points, or 0.4 percent, to 22,927.04, while the broader Topix closed marginally higher at 1,667.01.

Sony soared 4.1 percent after posting the highest operating profit for a second quarter on the back of strong demand for image sensors for mobile phones. Market heavyweight SoftBank Group advanced 3.7 percent and Fast Retailing added 1.3 percent.

Apple Inc. supplier Alps Alpine jumped 8.7 percent after Apple forecast sales for the crucial holiday shopping quarter ahead of Wall Street expectations.

Australian markets fell modestly, with lower oil prices and weak results from Australia and New Zealand Banking Group weighing on sentiment.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 26.10 points, or 0.4 percent, to 6,663.40, while the broader All Ordinaries Index ended down 21.80 points, or 0.3 percent, at 6,772.90.

ANZ tumbled 3.3 percent as the country’s fourth-largest lender missed market expectations for second-half profits. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corp and National Australia Bank all fell more than 1 percent.

A drop in oil prices also pulled down energy stocks, with Beach Energy shares falling as much as 2.6 percent.

Meanwhile, gold miners Evolution Mining and Newcrest edged up slightly as gold prices climbed on dollar weakness after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the third time this year.

In economic news, private sector credit in Australia was up 0.2 percent sequentially in September, the Reserve Bank of Australia said in a report, unchanged from the previous month.

Separately, official data showed that the total number of building approvals issued in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 7.6 percent month-on-month in September.

Seoul stocks ended off their day’s highs after Samsung Electronics said its earnings would remain weak despite a recovery in chip sales.

The Kospi jumped more than 1 percent earlier in the day before ending the session up 3.21 points, or 0.2 percent, at 2,083.48. Samsung Electronics gave up early gains to end on a flat note.

Economy

Customs Street Chalks up 1.08% on Renewed Buying Pressure

Published

3 hours ago

06/12/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

A 1.08 per cent growth was further printed by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday on improved appetite for Nigerian stocks.

Data showed that the insurance sector lost 0.61 per cent yesterday due to profit-taking as the energy space gave up 0.08 per cent, while the commodity counter closed flat.

However, the industrial goods landscape appreciated by 2.06 per cent, the banking index improved by 1.31 per cent, and the consumer goods sector expanded by 0.83 per cent.

At the close of business on Customs Street, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,563.92 points to 147,040.07 points from 145,476.15 points and the market capitalisation went up by N996 billion to N93.722 trillion from N92.726 trillion.

UAC Nigeria led the advancers’ log yesterday after it grew by 10.00 per cent to N96.80, Transcorp Hotels jumped by 9.71 per cent to N172.80, Royal Exchange appreciated by 8.89 per cent to N1.96, Ikeja Hotel soared by 8.74 per cent to N31.10, and Veritas Kapital leapt by 8.07 per cent to N1.74.

On the flip side, Union Dicon declined by 10.00 per cent to N6.30, ABC Transport slipped by 9.88 per cent to N3.10, AXA Mansard depreciated by 7.19 per cent to N12.90, FTN Cocoa lost 4.62 per cent to trade at N4.75, and Guinea Insurance dropped 3.36 per cent to finish at N1.15.

A total of 38 stocks ended on the gainers’ table and 17 stocks finished on the losers’ table, representing a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.

Traders transacted 361.6 million equities for N14.8 billion in 21,051 deals yesterday versus the 1.9 billion equities worth N19.2 billion traded in 23,369 deals a day earlier, showing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 80.97 per cent, 22.92 per cent, and 14.20 per cent, respectively.

The busiest stock for the session was Zenith Bank with 59.5 million units worth N3.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 46.1 million units valued at N973.0 million, Fidelity Bank exchanged 29.4 million units for N560.4 million, FCMB transacted 27.9 million units worth N293.9 million, and Tantalizers sold 13.0 million units valued at N29.8 million.

Economy

Nipco, 11 Plc Crash OTC Securities Exchange by 4.76%

Published

4 hours ago

06/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Energy stocks influenced the 4.76 per cent loss recorded by the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Friday, December 5.

The culprits were the duo of 11 Plc and Nipco Plc,with the former shedding N32.17 to end at N291.83 per share compared with the previous day’s N324.00 per share, and the latter down by N21.00 to sell at N195.00 per unit versus the previous session’s N216.00 per unit.

Consequently, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) slumped by 170.16 points to 3,401.37 points from 3,571.53 points and the market capitalisation lost N101.81 billion to close at N2.035 billion from the N2.136 trillion quoted in the preceding session.

The OTC securities exchange suffered the decline yesterday despite the share prices of three companies closing green.

Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc was up by N1.80 to close at N39.80 per share compared with Thursday’s price of N38.00 per share, Air Liquide Plc appreciated by N1.09 to N11.99 per unit from N10.90 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc grew by 78 Kobo to N56.57 per share from N55.79 per share.

During the session, the volume of transactions rose by 6,885.3 per cent to 18.2 million units from 4.3 million units, the value of transactions ballooned by 10,301.7 per cent to N389.7 million from N347.2 million, but the number of deals declined by 29.7 per cent to 26 deals from 37 deals.

Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units valued at N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units worth N4.2 billion.

InfraCredit Plc also finished the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.2 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units worth N524.9 million.

Economy

Naira Depreciates to N1,450/$1 at Official Forex Market

Published

4 hours ago

06/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira depreciated further against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, December 5, as FX demand pressure mounts.

The Nigerian currency lost N2.60 or 0.18 per cent against the greenback to close at N1,450.43/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,447.83/$1.

Equally, the domestic currency declined against the Pound Sterling in the official forex market during the session by N4.48 to trade at N1,935.45/£1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,930.97/£1 and shrank against the Euro by 43 Kobo to end at N1,689.17/€1 versus the preceding session’s rate of N1,688.74/€1.

Similarly, the local currency performed badly against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX counter by N2 to close at N1,455/$1 versus Thursday’s N1,453/$1 but traded flat at the parallel market at N14.65/$1.

As the country gets into the festive period, pressure mounted on the local currency reflecting higher foreign payments and lower FX inflows.

However, there are expectations that the Nigerian currency will be stable, supported by interventions by to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the face of steady dollar Demand and inflows from Detty December festivities that will give the Naira a boost after it depreciated mildly last month.

Traders cited by Reuters expect that the Naira will trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450/$1 next week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.

As for the crypto market, it was down yesterday due to profit-taking associated with year-end trading. However, the December 1-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation by the University of Michigan fell to 4.1 per cent from 4.5 per cent previously and 4.5 per cent expected. The 5-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation fell to 3.2 per cent from 3.4 per cent previously and 3.4 per cent expected.

With the dearth of official economic data of late, these private surveys have taken on a new level of significance and the market banks of them to make decisions.

Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 5.7 per cent to $0.4142, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 5.1 per cent to $0.1394, Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 3.9 per cent to $3,039.75, Solana (SOL) declined by 3.8 per cent to $133.24, and Litecoin (LTC) fell by 3.7 per cent to $80.59.

Further, Bitcoin (BTC) went down by 2.6 per cent to sell at $89,683.72, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 2.2 per cent to $883.59, and Ripple (XRP) shrank by 2.1 per cent to $2.04, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.