Economy
Asian Shares Close Mixed Monday
By Investors Hub
Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Monday as global growth worries offset hopes for policy support from China.
U.S. job growth almost halted in February and new bank loans in China fell sharply last month, adding to concerns over cooling global growth.
Investors also awaited a crucial vote on U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s revised Brexit deal on Tuesday for directional cues.
Chinese stocks rebounded from heavy losses in the previous session after central bank governor Yi Gang said Beijing would not use the yuan exchange rate as a tool to boost exports or ease trade frictions.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rallied 57.13 points or 1.92 percent to 3,026.99, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 274.88 points or 1 percent to finish at 28,503.30.
Japanese shares bounced back from four days of losses as investors looked ahead to the Bank of Japan policy meeting later this week.
The Nikkei 225 Index rose 99.53 points or 0.5 percent to 21,125.09, while the broader Topix ended up by 0.6 percent at 1,581.44.
Automakers Honda Motor, Toyota, Mitsubishi Motors and Nissan Motor gained between 0.7 percent 1.1 percent as the dollar remained strong above the 111.00 yen threshold.
Nissan Motor, Renault and Mitsubishi Motors will create a new decision-making body to discuss business collaboration across the three-way alliance, replacing a setup that concentrated power in former chief Carlos Ghosn, Nikkei Asian Review reported.
Hitachi Chemical soared 20 percent after Kyodo news reported that parent company Hitachi was considering a sale of its stake at a hefty premium of more than 40 per cent.
Meanwhile, Australian markets fell, dragged down by energy stocks after crude oil prices fell 1 percent on Friday on weak data from China and the U.S. The European Central Bank’s surprising dovish stance also fueled growth concerns.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 23.60 points or 0.4 percent to 6,180.20, while the broader All Ordinaries Index ended down 23.80 points or 0.4 percent at 6,263.30.
Energy stocks such as Woodside Petroleum, Oil Search and Santos lost around 2 percent. The big four banks ended largely unchanged after CEOs from several major banks faced questioning in parliament.
Weak copper prices weighed on the mining sector, with heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto losing 1 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.
Gold miner Newcrest Mining rallied 3.8 percent after it agreed to buy a copper and gold mine in Canada for $806.5 million. Rivals Northern Star and Evolution Mining jumped over 4 percent after a surge in gold prices.
Appen entered a trading halt. The artificial intelligence firm is launching a A$300 million capital raising to fund the acquisition of U.S.-based machine learning software firm Figure Eight.
Seoul stocks
fluctuated before ending largely unchanged amid growth worries. The
benchmark Kospi edged up by 0.66 point to 2,138.10, snapping a
six-session losing streak. Cosmetics maker AmorePacific slumped 4.6
percent and oil refiner S-Oil gave up 4 percent.
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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