Economy

Asian Equities Close Mixed as US Federal Reserve Slashes Rates

Published

5 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

FrieslandCampina, Afriland Properties Weaken NASD Index by 0.24%

Published

2 days ago

26/04/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange fell by 0.24 per cent on Friday, April 25 after the duo of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc and Afriland Properties Plc landed on the losers’ table.

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N2.58 to sell at N35.37 per unit compared with the previous day’s N37.95 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 2 Kobo to close at N17.78 per share versus Thursday’s closing value of N17.80 per share.

However, Geo-Fluids Plc appreciated by 10 Kobo during the trading day to sell for N1.80 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1.70 per unit. The rise in the price of the stock could not prevent the fall of the bourse yesterday.

Consequently, the market capitalisation of the trading platform went down by N4.64 billion to N1.914 trillion from N1.918 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) declined by 7.92 points to 3,269.06 points from 3,276.98 points.

The final trading session of the week ended with a surge of 1,695.8 per cent in the volume of securities transacted to 3.7 billion units from the 206.2 milion units transacted in the previous trading day.

Equally, the value of transactions jumped by 2,592.6 per cent to N9.5 billion from N354.1 million on Thursday, and the number of deals decreased by 47.4 per cent to 20 deals from the 38 deals recorded a day earlier.

Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units sold for N520.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 259.3 million units worth N456.1 million, and Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units valued at N4.9 billion.

Also, Okitipupa Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 153.6 million units valued at N4.9 billion, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 15.6 million units worth N598.5 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 533.9 million units sold for N520.9 million.

Economy

Nigeria’s Stock Market Gives up 0.30% Friday

Published

2 days ago

26/04/2025

Dipo Olowookere

stock market how to invest in US stocks in South Africa

By Dipo Olowookere

A 0.30 per cent fall was recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday as a result of profit-taking in the industrial goods sector.

This was mainly caused by sell-offs in Dangote Cement Plc, which released its financial statements for the first quarter of 2025 yesterday.

The cement maker lost 10.00 per cent during the session to trade at N432.00, Regency Alliance lost 8.06 per cent to close at 57 Kobo, VFD Group depreciated by 7.57 per cent to N17.10, Chams declined by 7.27 per cent to N2.04, and Sovereign Trust Insurance crashed by 6.12 per cent to 92 Kobo.

Conversely, International Breweries, Legend Internet, and Ikeja Hotel gained 10.00 per cent each to sell for N7.70, N6.82, and N12.10 apiece, Vitafoam Nigeria surged by 9.93 per cent to N44.85, and Eterna rose by 9.92 per cent to N39.90.

The industrial goods index was down by 4.73 per cent on Friday, as the others finished in green territory.

The consumer goods space rose by 2.21 per cent, the banking sector appreciated by 1.55 per cent, the insurance counter expanded by 1.50 per cent, the energy sector increased by 0.07 per cent, and the commodity industry went up by 0.04 per cent.

At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 321.21 points to 105,753.05 points from 106,074.26 points and the market capitalisation shrank by N202 billion to N66.465 trillion from N66.667 trillion.

The level of activity increased yesterday as the trading volume, value, and number of deals grew by 30.40 per cent, 94.23 per cent, and 17.64 per cent, respectively.

This was because investors transacted 428.1 million shares worth N20.2 billion in 14,284 deals compared with the 328.3 million shares valued at N10.4 billion in traded in 12,142 deals a day earlier.

GTCO led the activity chart with 60.7 million equities sold for N3.8 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 41.4 million stocks worth N829.3 million, Access Holdings exchanged 40.6 million shares valued at N968.3 million, MTN Nigeria sold 33.0 million equities for N8.2 billion, and Zenith Bank transacted 22.9 million stocks worth N1.1 billion.

Economy

Naira Now N1,599/$1 at Official Market, N1,605/$1 at Black Market

Published

2 days ago

26/04/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira extended its gains against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, April 25 by 0.22 per cent or N3.59 to sell for N1,599.42/$1 compared with the N1,603.01/$1 it was traded in the previous session.

The Nigerian currency also improved its value against the Euro in the official market by N1.36 to close at N1,818.53/€1 compared with Thursday’s closing price of N1,819.89/€1.

However, the domestic currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment yesterday by N1.90 to wrap the session at N2,130.44/£1 versus the preceding session’s rate of N2,128.50/£1.

At the black market segment, the Naira appreciated against the greenback on Friday by N2 to quote at N1,605/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s value of N1,607/$1.

In the cryptocurrency market, a possible regulatory progress about digital assets in the US spurred buying interest among investors during the trading session.

The chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Paul Atkins, was at a crypto roundtable on Friday and he devoted his inaugural speech to assuring the industry that he will continue to remake securities policy to favor digital assets innovation.

The agency and industry have been awaiting congressional action to establish crypto market-structure oversight that will likely set guardrails, and Atkins told an audience at the SEC’s Washington headquarters that the regulator will work toward delivering “a rational, fit-for-purpose framework” for crypto.

Litecoin (LTC) rose by 3.0 per cent to $87.24, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 2.7 per cent to $0.1862, Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 1.3 per cent to $94,687.84, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $1,797.51, Cardano (ADA) improved by 0.9 per cent to $0.7235, and Ripple (XRP) gained 0.6 per cent to close at $2.20.

On the flip side, Solana (SOL) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $151.64, and Binance Coin (BNB) lost 0.8 per cent to sell for $602.89, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.