Connect with us

Economy

Asian Equities Close Mixed as US Federal Reserve Slashes Rates

Published

on

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.

Modupe Gbadeyanka is a fast-rising journalist with Business Post Nigeria. Her passion for journalism is amazing. She is willing to learn more with a view to becoming one of the best pen-pushers in Nigeria. Her role models are the duo of CNN's Richard Quest and Christiane Amanpour.

Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Economy

Presco, GTCO List Additional Shares on Stock Exchange

Published

on

Nigeria's stock exchange

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The duo of Presco Plc and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc has listed additional shares on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.

The extra equities of these two publicly-listed organisations were admitted to the local stock exchange last Friday, increasing their respective total issued and fully paid-up shares.

For Presco, it listed fresh 166,666,667 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each on the daily official list of the NGX on Friday, January 30, 2026, increasing its total issued and fully paid-up stocks from 1,000,000,000 units to 1,166,666,667 units.

The additional equities were from the rights issue of the firm allotted to shareholders on the basis of one new share for every existing six ordinary shares held as at close of business on Monday, October 13, 2025.

In a circular issued over the weekend, the NGX said, “Trading licence holders are hereby notified that additional 166,666,667 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of Presco Plc were on Friday, January 30, 2026, listed on the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited (NGX).

“The additional shares arose from the company’s rights issue of 166,666,667 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N1,420.00 per share on the basis of one new share for every existing six ordinary shares held as at close of business on Monday, October 13, 2025.

“With the listing of the additional 166,666,667 ordinary shares, the total issued and fully paid-up shares of Presco Plc has now increased from 1,000,000,000 to 1,166,666,667 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.”

As for GTCO, it listed additional125,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N80.00 per unit offered through private placement.

The fresh equities taken to Customs Street have raised the total issued and fully paid-up shares of GTCO from 36,425,229,514 to 36,550,229,514 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.

Continue Reading

Economy

FG, States, Local Councils Share N1.969trn FAAC Allocation

Published

on

faac allocation

By Adedapo Adesanya

A total of N1.969 trillion was shared to the federal government, the 36 state governments and the 774 local government councils from the gross revenue of N2.585 trillion generated by the nation in December 2025.

The money was disbursed to the three tiers of government at the January 2026 Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting held in Abuja.

In a statement issued on Monday by the Director of Press and Public Relations in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), Mr Bawa Mokwa, it was stated that the FAAC allocation comprised statutory revenue of N1.084 trillion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N846.507 billion, and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N38.110 billion.

“Total deduction for cost of collection was N104.697 billion, while total transfers, refunds, and savings were N511.585 billion,” the statement partly read.

It was also revealed that from the N1.969 trillion total distributable revenue, the federal Government received the sum of N653.500 billion, and the state governments received N706.469 billion, the local government councils received N513.272 billion, and the sum of N96.083 billion was shared with the benefiting state as 13 per cent derivation revenue.

He said of the N1.084 trillion distributable statutory revenue, the central government received N520.807 billion, the state governments got N264.160 billion, the local councils were given N203.656 billion, and N96.083 billion was shared to the benefiting states as 13 per cent derivation revenue.

FAAC noted that from the N846.507 billion distributable VAT earnings, the federal government got N126.976 billion, the state governments received N423.254 billion, and the local government councils got N296.277 billion.

From the revenue from EMTL, Mr Mokwa explained that the national government was given N5.717 billion, the state governments got N19.055 billion, and the councils collected N13.338 billion.

He added that the companies’ Income Tax (CIT)/CGT and STD, Import Duty and Value Added Tax (VAT) increased significantly in December, while oil and gas royalty, CET levies and fees increase marginally, with excise duty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT)/Hydrocarbon Tax (HT), and EMTL considerably down.

Continue Reading

Economy

Oil Exports to Drop as Shell Commences Maintenance on Bonga FPSO

Published

on

Bonga FPSO

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria’s oil exports will drop in February following the shutdown of the Bonga Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel scheduled for turnaround maintenance.

Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) Limited confirmed the development in a statement issued, adding that gas output will also decline during the maintenance period.

This comes as SNEPCo begun turnaround maintenance on the Bonga FPSO, the statement signed by its Communications Manager, Mrs Gladys Afam-Anadu, said, describing the exercise as a statutory integrity assurance programme designed to extend the facility’s operational lifespan.

SNEPCo Managing Director, Mr Ronald Adams, said the maintenance would ensure safe, efficient operations for another 15 years.

“The scheduled maintenance is designed to reduce unplanned deferments and strengthen the asset’s overall resilience.

“We expect to resume operations in March following completion of the turnaround,” he said.

Mr Adams said the scope included inspections, certification, regulatory checks, integrity upgrades, engineering modifications and subsea assurance activities.

“The FPSO, about 120 kilometres offshore in over 1,000 metres of water, can produce 225,000 barrels of oil daily.

“It also produces 150 million standard cubic feet of gas per day,” he said.

He said maintaining the facility was critical to Nigeria’s production stability, energy security and revenue objectives.

Mr Adams noted that the 2024 Final Investment Decision on Bonga North increased the importance of the FPSO’s reliability. He said the turnaround would prepare the facility for additional volumes from the Bonga North subsea tie-back project.

According to him, the last turnaround maintenance was conducted in October 2022.

“On February 1, 2023, the asset produced its one billionth barrel since operations began in 2005,” Mr Adams said.

SNEPCo operates the Bonga field in partnership with Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited and Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited, under a Production Sharing Contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.

The last turnaround maintenance activity on the FPSO took place in October 2022. On February 1, the following year, the asset delivered its 1 billionth barrel of oil since production commenced in 2005.

Continue Reading

Trending