Economy

Asian Equities Depreciate as Trade Tensions Worry Investors

Published

6 years ago

05/09/2018

By Investors Hub

Asian stocks fell on Wednesday to extend recent losses as investors continued to fret about trade tensions and the turbulence in emerging markets, with South Africa slipping into a recession for the first time since 2009.

A cautious undertone prevailed after a threat by the United States to impose tariffs on another $200 billion worth of Chinese imports as soon as a public-comment period ends on Thursday.

China?s Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 46.24 points or 1.7 percent to 2,704.34, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index plunged 729.49 points or 2.6 percent to 27,243.85.

Activity in China?s service sector continued to expand in August, albeit at a slower rate, the latest survey from Caixin revealed with a 10-month low PMI score of 51.5.That missed expectations for 52.6 and was down sharply from 52.8 in July.

The business sector in Hong Kong continued to contract in August, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed with a PMI score of 48.5. That?s up from 48.2 in July.

Japanese shares fell as trade worries persisted and tourism-linked shares succumbed to selling pressure after a powerful typhoon slammed into western Japan, cutting power, overturning cars and killing at least eight people.

The Nikkei 225 Index dropped 116.07 points or 0.5 percent to 22,580.83, extending losses for a fourth straight session. The broader Topix Index closed 0.8 percent lower at 1,704.96.

Airline ANA Holdings dropped 1.8 percent, cosmetic maker Shiseido lost 4.2 percent and Fancl Corp plunged 9.7 percent. Line Corp, a subsidiary of the South Korean internet search giant Naver Corporation, plummeted 5 percent on fund raising reports.

Meanwhile, market heavyweight Fast Retailing climbed 3.2 percent after unveiling strong monthly sales figures.

On the economic front, the service sector in Japan expanded at a faster in August, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed with a PMI score of 51.5, up from 51.3 in July.

Australian stocks tumbled despite second quarter GDP data coming in above expectations. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index slumped 62.70 points or 1 percent to 6,230.40, while the broader All Ordinaries Index ended down 59.70 points or 0.9 percent at 6,339.20.

Australia’s GDP grew a seasonally adjusted 0.9 percent in the second quarter, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. That beat forecasts for a gain of 0.7 percent following the 1.0 percent increase in the three months prior. On a yearly basis, GDP was up 3.4 percent, the fastest pace in six years.

Separately, another survey showed that the service sector in Australia continued to expand in August, albeit at a slower pace. The corresponding index stood at 52.2 in the month, down from 53.6 in July.

Miners BHP Billiton, Fortescue Metals Group, Rio Tinto and South32 slumped 2-3 percent after commodity prices fell sharply overnight on concerns that renewed trade tensions between the U.S. and its partners may hamper global economic growth.

Lender Westpac Banking Corp dropped 1.3 percent after settling a record A$35 million ($25 million) fine for wrongly approving thousands of mortgages. The other three banks ended down between 0.7 percent and 0.9 percent.

Energy stocks also closed broadly lower, with Origin Energy and Oil Search losing 1.2 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

Economy

FAAC Disburses 1.727trn to FG, States Local Councils in December 2024

Published

14 hours ago

14/12/2024

Modupe Gbadeyanka

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The federal government, the 36 states of the federation and the 774 local government areas have received N1.727 trillion from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) for December 2024.

The funds were disbursed to the three tiers of government from the revenue generated by the nation in November 2024.

At the December meeting of FAAC held in Abuja, it was stated that the amount distributed comprised distributable statutory revenue of N455.354 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N585.700 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N15.046 billion and Exchange Difference revenue of N671.392 billion.

According to a statement signed on Friday by the Director of Press and Public Relations for FAAC, Mr Bawa Mokwa, the money generated last month was about N3.143 trillion, with N103.307 billion used for cost of collection and N1.312 trillion for transfers, interventions and refunds.

It was disclosed that gross statutory revenue of N1.827 trillion was received compared with the N1.336 trillion recorded a month earlier.

The statement said gross revenue of N628.972 billion was available from VAT versus N668.291 billion in the preceding month.

The organisation stated that last month, oil and gas royalty and CET levies recorded significant increases, while excise duty, VAT, import duty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Companies Income Tax (CIT) and EMTL decreased considerably.

As for the sharing, FAAC disclosed that from the N1.727 trillion, the central government got N581.856 billion, the states received N549.792 billion, the councils took N402.553 billion, while the benefiting states got N193.291 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.

From the N585.700 billion VAT earnings, the national government got N87.855 billion, the states received N292.850 billion and the local councils were given N204.995 billion.

Also, from the N455.354 billion distributable statutory revenue, the federal government was given N175.690 billion, the states got N89.113 billion, the local governments had N68.702 billion, and the benefiting states received N121.849 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.

In addition, from the N15.046 billion EMTL revenue, FAAC shared N2.257 billion to the federal government, disbursed N7.523 billion to the states and transferred N5.266 billion to the local councils.

Further, from the N671.392 billion Exchange Difference earnings, it gave central government N316.054 billion, the states N160.306 billion, the local government areas N123.590 billion, and the oil-producing states N71.442 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.

Economy

Okitipupa Plc, Two Others Lift Unlisted Securities Market by 0.65%

Published

20 hours ago

14/12/2024

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.65 per cent gain on Friday, December 13, boosted by three equities admitted on the trading platform.

On the last trading session of the week, Okitipupa Plc appreciated by N2.70 to settle at N29.74 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N27.04 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc added N2.49 to end the session at N42.85 per unit compared with the previous day’s N40.36 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 50 Kobo to close at N16.30 per share, in contrast to the preceding session’s N15.80 per share.

Consequently, the market capitalisation added N6.89 billion to settle at N1.062 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.055 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gained 19.66 points to wrap the session at 3,032.16 points compared with 3,012.50 points recorded in the previous session.

Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors increased by 171.6 per cent to 1.2 million units from the 447,905 units recorded a day earlier, but the value of shares traded by the market participants declined by 19.3 per cent to N2.4 million from the N3.02 million achieved a day earlier, and the number of deals went down by 14.3 per cent to 18 deals from 21 deals.

At the close of business, Geo-Fluids Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 1.7 billion units worth N3.9 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with the sale of 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.3 million units sold for N5.3 million.

In the same vein, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 108.7 million units for N89.2 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with a turnover of 297.3 million units worth N5.3 billion.

Economy

Naira Trades N1,533/$1 at Official Market, N1,650/$1 at Parallel Market

Published

21 hours ago

14/12/2024

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira appreciated further against the United States Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N1.50 or 0.09 per cent to close at N1,533.00/$1 on Friday, December 13 versus the N1,534.50/$1 it was transacted on Thursday.

The local currency has continued to benefit from the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) this month.

The implementation of the forex system comes with diverse implications for all segments of the financial markets that deal with FX, including the rebound in the value of the Naira across markets.

The system instantly reflects data on all FX transactions conducted in the interbank market and approved by the CBN.

Market analysts say the publication of real-time prices and buy-sell orders data from this system has lent support to the Naira in the official market and tackled speculation.

In the official market yesterday, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling by N12.58 to wrap the session at N1,942.19/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,954.77/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N2.44 to close at N1,612.85/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,610.41/€1.

At the black market, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the greenback on Friday by N30 to sell for N1,650/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N1,680/$1.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was largely positive as investors banked on recent signals, including fresh support from US President-elect, Mr Donald Trump, as well as interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB).

Ripple (XRP) added 7.3 per cent to sell at $2.49, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 3.5 per cent to $728.28, Cardano (ADA) expanded by 2.4 per cent to trade at $1.11, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 2.3 per cent to $122.56, Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1.9 per cent to settle at $101,766.17, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $0.4064, Solana (SOL) soared by 0.7 per cent to $226.15 and Ethereum (ETH) advanced by 0.6 per cent to $3,925.35, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.