Economy
Asian Equities Finish in Green Territory on Friday
By Investors Hub
Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Friday after China’s Commerce Ministry said trade talks with the U.S. in Beijing were extensive and helped establish a “foundation” to resolve differences.
Prospects for more Chinese stimulus to arrest the slowdown in growth and rising expectations that the Federal Reserve will pause its rate tightening cycle this year also underpinned sentiment.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 18.73 points or 0.7 percent to 2,553.83, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 145.84 points or 0.6 percent to close at 26,667.27.
Japanese shares posted strong gains after Wall Street extended its rally into a fifth straight day on Thursday. The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 195.90 points or 1 percent to 20,359.70, taking overall gains for the week to 4.1 percent, the biggest weekly gain in more than two months. The broader Topix closed 0.5 percent higher at 1,529.73.
Advantest, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Takeda Pharma and Hitachi climbed 4-9 percent. Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing rallied 6.2 percent despite reporting an unexpected decline in quarterly profit.
Olympus Corp. soared almost 10 percent to reach a nearly three-month high after the medical equipment and camera maker said it would propose to give top shareholder U.S. hedge fund ValueAct Capital a board seat.
Meanwhile, FamilyMart UNY Holdings declined 2.5 percent after its sales for the March-November period fell 1.7 percent.
In economic news, Japan had a current account surplus of 757.2 billion yen in November, the Ministry of Finance said, exceeding expectations for a surplus of 566.3 billion yen but down from 1,309.9 billion yen in October.
The trade balance reflected a deficit of 559.1 billion yen versus expectations for a shortfall of 612.6 billion yen.
Another report showed that the average of household spending in Japan rose 0.3 percent year-over-year in November.
Australian markets fell modestly amid a lack of a clear resolution to the U.S.-China trade talks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 20.70 points or 0.4 percent to 5,774.60, while the broader All Ordinaries Index ended down 19.10 points or 0.3 percent at 5,834.80.
An overnight decrease in copper and iron ore prices pulled down miners, with heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto falling 1.1 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.
Gold miner Evolution Mining and Northern Star fell over 2 percent despite gold prices rising on a weaker dollar.
On the other hand, Treasury Wine Estates jumped 4.3 percent after saying it expects earnings above consensus estimates. JB Hi-Fi rallied 2.6 percent as retail sales figures for November beat expectations.
Australian retail sales grew a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent month-on-month in November, exceeding expectations for an increase of 0.3 percent, which would have been unchanged from the October reading.
Another report revealed that the construction sector in Australia contracted a faster rate in December.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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