Economy

Asian Equities Rally as US, China Relax Tarrifs Hike Threats

Published

8 years ago

03/12/2018

By Investors Hub

Asian stocks rallied on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a 90-day truce on their escalating trade war.

While Trump agreed to hold off on his threat to raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10 percent on January 1st, Beijing agreed to buy very substantial amounts of agricultural, energy, industrial and other products from the U.S. to narrow its trade gap with the U.S.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index soared 2.6 percent to finish at 2,654.80, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surged up 2.6 percent to 27,182.04.

Japanese shares hit a six-week high despite the dollar retreating to the mid-113 yen range on expectations of a slower pace of U.S. rate hikes and ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony before a congressional Joint Economic Committee this week.

The Nikkei 225 Index advanced 1 percent to 22,574.76, the highest closing level since October 22nd, while the broader Topix Index jumped 1.3 percent to close at 1,689.05.

Exporters Canon, Panasonic, Toyota Motor and Sony climbed 2-3 percent, and top banks Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial ended modestly higher. In the tech sector, Advantest gained 1.6 percent, Tokyo Electron added 0.9 percent and Screen Holdings spiked 6.3 percent.

On the economic front, the Japanese manufacturing sector continued to expand in November, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed with a manufacturing PMI score of 52.2, down from 52.9 in October.

Separately, a government report showed that capital spending in Japan rose 4.5 percent sequentially in the third quarter of 2018, shy of expectations for an increase of 8.5 percent and down from 12.8 percent in the three months prior.

Australian stocks rose across the broad on improved risk sentiment amid the de-escalation in tensions between the U.S. and China, Australia’s biggest trade partner. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index shot up 1.8 percent to 5,771.20, while the broader All Ordinaries Index ended 1.9 percent higher at 5,856.30.

Miners BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group climbed 2-4 percent, and BlueScope Steel soared 11.8 percent on share buyback news.

Woodside Petroleum, Oil Search, Santos and Origin Energy jumped 4-9 percent as oil prices surged up around 5 percent amid the U.S.-China trade truce.

The big four banks ended on a mixed note as the royal commission ended its final round of public hearings.

Shares of GrainCorp spiked 26.7 percent after the agribusiness and food ingredients company announced it has received an unsolicited A$2.4 billion takeover offer from Long-Term Asset Partners.

On the economic front, data on building approvals, company operating profits and manufacturing activity painted a mixed picture of the economy.

Economy

MRS Oil, FrieslandCampina Wamco Shrink NASD Index by 0.68%

Published

2 days ago

06/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The duo of MRS Oil and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.68 per cent on Friday, June 5.

MRS Plc lost N19.00 during the session to sell at N171.00 per share compared with Thursday’s value of N190.00 per share, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N8.70 to finish at N181.68 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N190.38 per unit.

As a result, the market capitalisation further lost N22.59 billion to close at N2.607 trillion versus the N2.630 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 37.76 points to settle at 4,358.32 points, in contrast to the previous day’s 4,396.08 points.

The alternative stock market closed the last trading day of this week with a price gainer, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gained 6 Kobo to quote at N78.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N78.34 per share. However, it could not prevent the market from going down at the close of business.

Yesterday, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors went down by 50.0 per cent to 140,345 units from the preceding day’s 280,714 units, the value of stocks decreased by 16.5 per cent to N17.9 million from the previous session’s N21.5 million, and the number of deals carried out by market participants fell by 35.7 per cent to 27 deals from the 42 deals recorded on Thursday.

When trading activities closed for the day, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 billion.

GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.

Economy

NGX Index Rebounds 0.15% on Renewed Interest in Financial Stocks

Published

2 days ago

06/06/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

Renewed interest in financial stocks and others lifted the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 0.15 per cent on Friday.

Customs Street closed higher yesterday despite the 1.37 per cent loss recorded by the consumer goods sector as a result of profit-taking.

This was offset by gains in the other key sectors of the local bourse, as the insurance counter chalked up 1,14 per cent. The banking space appreciated by 0.90 per cent, the industrial goods segment grew by 0.46 per cent, and the energy sector expanded by 0.01 per cent.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 366.00 points to 242,593.31 points from 242,227.31 points, and the market capitalisation gained N235 billion to close at N155.594 trillion compared with the previous day’s N155.359 trillion.

The trio of International Energy Insurance, Abbey Mortgage Bank, and DAAR Communications improved by 10.00 per cent each yesterday to N7.26, N9.35, and N1.98, respectively, while Zichis advanced by 9.39 per cent to N32.38, with Sovereign Trust Insurance up by 8.70 per cent to N2.50.

On the flip side, Academy Press lost 9.84 per cent to quote at N8.25, University Press depreciated by 9.73 per cent to N5.10, Africa Prudential dipped by 2.63 per cent to N12.95, Chams crumbled by 2.44 per cent to N4.00, and International Breweries slipped by 1.59 per cent to N12.35.

Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive during the session after recording 37 appreciating equities and 14 depreciating equities, implying strong investor sentiment.

Abbey Mortgage Bank led the activity chart with a turnover of 164.1 million units worth N1.5 billion, Ellah Lakes sold 76.7 million units for N767.2 million, Access Holdings transacted 44.8 million units valued at N1.1 billion, Linkage Assurance exchanged 23.0 million units worth N41.2 million, and The Initiates traded 20.2 million units for N562.1 million.

At the close of trades, market participants transacted 608.5 million units worth N32.0 billion in 53,826 deals versus the 588.5 million units valued at N27.9 billion executed in 57,352 deals in the previous session. This showed that the number of deals eased by 6.15 per cent, the volume of transactions rose by 3.40 per cent, and the value of transactions soared by 14.70 per cent.

Economy

Naira Depreciates to N1,362/$1 at Official Market

Published

2 days ago

06/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira further depreciated against the United States Dollar by N3.46 or 0.25 per cent to N1,362.21/$1 from N1,358.75/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 5.

However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window during the session by N4.47 to trade at N1,823.59/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,828.06/£1, and gained N7.00 against the Euro to sell at N1,574.58/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,581.58/€1.

For another trading session, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the Dollar in the parallel market and the GTBank forex counter on Friday at N1,375/$1 and N1,372/$1, respectively.

The Naira is expected to remain strong in the near term, backed by a rise in external reserves, which are nearing $50 billion, enhancing analysts’ confidence about its outlook in the second half of 2026.

Heightened global uncertainty has reduced the incentive for importers and corporates to demand FX, as cautious trade weighs on import needs. Analysts estimate a $40 billion net FX position for the year, a projection anchored in oil windfall gains.

As for the cryptocurrency market, prices remained depressed following a strong US jobs report that spurred markets to price in higher-for-longer interest rates, sending Treasury yields and the dollar up while hammering stocks, especially AI-related names. Crypto markets saw heavy leverage washouts with about $1.6 billion in positions liquidated over 24 hours.

Ethereum (ETH) gave up 4.9 per cent to trade at $1,584.68, Solana (SOL) fell by 3.3 per cent to $63.22, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 1.9 per cent to $61,333.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 1.8 per cent to $0.0821, and Ripple (XRP) moderated by 1.8 per cent to $1.09.

Further, TRON (TRX) dropped 1.6 per cent to sell at $0.3197, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.0 per cent to $581.18, and Cardano (ADA) declined by 0.4 per cent to $0.1589, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) gained 0.07 to sell at $0.9997, and US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $0.9998.