Economy

Asian Markets Appreciate Amid Rising Optimism on US-China Talks

Published

6 years ago

07/01/2019

By Investors Hub

Asian markets ended on an upbeat note on Monday, with investors indulging in hectic buying amid rising optimism a fresh round of talks between the U.S. and China will help resolve trade disputes between the two countries.

Strong U.S. jobs data and the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s remarks last week that the Fed would be patient and flexible in policy decisions also contributed to the gains.

Chinese stocks ended the day firmly in positive territory. The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.7 percent, while Hong Kong?s Hang Seng Index advanced 0.8 percent.

The Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 Index surged up 2.4 percent, led by gains by real estate, machinery, metal, pulp and paper, automobile, glass and ceramics and precision instruments stocks.

Shares from the pharmaceutical, finance, construction and transportation sectors also ended with impressive gains.

Toho Zinc, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Dentsu Inc., Komatsu, Pacific Metals, JGC Corp., Mitsui Fudosan, Tokyo Electron, Dainippon Screen Manufacturing, SUMCO Corp. and Minebea Mitsum rose 6 to 8 percent.

Mitsubishi Motors, Kawasaki Kishen Kaisha, GS Yuasa, Rakuten Inc., Hitachi, Suzuki Motor, Hino Motors, Panasonic and Advantest Corp. were among the other big gainers.

In the Australian market, information technology, mining and energy shares rose sharply. Financial, industrials and consumer durables shares also ended mostly higher, while pharmaceuticals and telecom shares were a bit sluggish.

Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index jumped 1.1 percent, while the broader All Ordinaries Index ended up 1.2 percent.

Emeco Holdings soared more than 10 percent, Syrah Resources spiked 9.8 percent and Seven Group Holdings surged up 8.6 percent. Sandfire Resources and Western Areas gained 8.5 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively.

On the other hand, shares of Healius Limited declined more than 6 percent. Northern Star and St Barbara both ended lower by about 3.2 percent, while Ardent Leisure Group and Evolution Mining lost 2 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

South Korea’s Kospi ended stronger by 1.3 percent. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index rose 0.7 percent and Taiwan’s Weighted Index shot up 2.2 percent, while Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore were on course to end on a firm note.

In economic news from Asia-Pacific region, the latest survey from the Australia Industry Group revealed the manufacturing sector in Australia slipped into contraction in December, with the index dropping to a score of 49.5 from a reading of 51.3 a month earlier.

The services sector in Japan continued to expand in December, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed with a PMI score of 51.0. That’s down from 52.3 in November, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

Nikkei also said its composite index slipped to a reading of 52.0 in December from 52.4 in the previous month.

The Bank of Japan said that the monetary base in Japan was up just 4.8 percent year-over-year in December, coming in at 504.2 trillion yen. That was well shy of forecasts for 5.8 percent and down sharply from 6.1 percent in November.

Economy

Linkage Assurance, Oando, Others Lift Nigerian Exchange by 0.10%

Published

11 hours ago

22/03/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited returned to green territory on Friday, closing higher by 0.10 per cent after investor sentiment turned bullish.

Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive yesterday after the bourse ended with 29 appreciating equities and 21 depreciating equities.

Linkage Assurance gained 10.00 per cent to trade at N1.43, Livestock Feeds appreciated by 9.93 per cent to N8.41, Mutual Benefits jumped by 9.84 per cent to 67 Kobo, UBA soared by 5.75 per cent to N36.80, and Oando grew by 5.59 per cent to N51.00.

Conversely, Red Star Express lost 9.91 per cent to finish at N4.82, Learn Africa depreciated by 9.85 per cent to N3.02, FTN Cocoa declined by 9.43 per cent to N4.80, Coronation Insurance slumped by 9.39 per cent to N2.22, and Ikeja Hotel slipped by 9.35 per cent to N9.70.

Customs Street grew yesterday as a result of buying interest in banking equities, which dominated the activity chart, according to data from the bourse.

Fidelity Bank transacted 62.3 million shares for N1.1 billion, Access Holdings traded 38.3 million equities worth N843.7 million, Tantalizers sold 32.0 million stocks valued at N99.2 million, Veritas Kapital exchanged 31.4 million shares worth N38.4 million, and Zenith Bank traded 22.7 million equities valued at N1.1 billion.

At the close of trades, a total of 397.2 million stocks worth N14.2 billion exchanged hands in 10,099 deals compared with the 310.5 million stocks valued at N6.3 billion traded in 10,182 deals a day earlier, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 0.82 per cent, and the growth in the trading volume and value by 27.92 per cent and 125.40 per cent, respectively.

The industrial goods and commodity sectors remained unchanged during the session, the insurance and consumer goods indices tumbled by 0.49 per cent and 0.02 per cent apiece, while the energy and banking counters went up by 0.50 per cent and 0.12 per cent, respectively.

The bargain-hunting activities of the market participants lifted the All-Share Index (ASI) on Friday by 104.19 points to 104,962.96 points from 104,858.77 points and the market capitalisation increased by N66 billion to N65.820 trillion from N65.754 trillion.

Economy

Nigerian OTC Securities Exchange Falls 0.44%

Published

12 hours ago

22/03/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The last trading session this week at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended on a negative note with a 0.44 per cent decline on Friday, March 21.

The market capitalisation of the OTC securities exchange went down by N8.67 billion to N1.939 trillion from N1.948 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) ended the session at 3,358.61 points after dropping 15.01 points from the preceding day’s 3,373.62 points.

Trading data showed an increase of 50.7 per cent in the volume of securities transacted to 304,188 units from the 201,873 units transacted in the previous trading day, the value of transactions surged by 1,214.8 per cent to N10.2 million from N776,509.51, and the number of deals rose by 88.2 per cent to 32 deals from 17 deals.

Yesterday, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N1.84 to trade at N37.17 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N39.01 per share, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc depreciated by N1.01 to sell at N22.84 per unit compared with the preceding day’s N213.85 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc declined by 2 Kobo to close the day at N19.50 per share versus the previous session’s N19.52 per share.

At the close of trading activities, Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with a turnover of 69.9 million units valued at N23.7 million, and Geo Fluids Plc with 44.1 million units sold for N88.9 million.

Similarly, Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with the sale of 13.2 million units valued at N511.8 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 17.6 million units sold for N360.1 million.

Economy

Naira Sinks Further to N1,537.05/$1 at Official FX Market

Published

12 hours ago

22/03/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, March 21 by N2.72 or 0.18 per cent to settle at N1,537.05/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,534.33/1$.

In the same official FX market, the exchange rate of the Nigerian Naira and the Pound Sterling and the Euro remained unchanged at N1,972.89/£1 and N1,657.81/€1, respectively.

At the parallel market segment, the local currency tumbled against the Dollar during the trading session by N5 to trade at N1,590/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,585/$1.

The pressure on the market continued as the Dollar strengthened in the international market, making currencies like the Naira weaker.

The continuous downward trend of the Naira has raised concerns about the effectiveness of recent injections into the market even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) channeled more than $55 million into the banks during the week.

In the cryptocurrency market, most tokens as prices inversed with the wider financial markets, which are down on tariff worries and decreased corporate earnings.

On the regulatory front, the US government is moving towards a market structure bill that has been touted as historic.

Solana (SOL) appreciated by 1.2 per cent to sell at $129.31, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 0.9 per cent to $0.1692, Ethereum (ETH) went up by 0.9 per cent to $1,988.34, and Ripple (XRP) added 0.8 per cent to close at $2.40.

Further, Bitcoin (BTC) expanded by 0.6 per cent to $84,293.76, Binance Coin (BNB) increased by 0.4 per cent to $631.94, and Cardano jumped by 0.3 per cent to end at $0.7134.

On the flip side, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 1.8 per cent to $91.25, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.