Economy
Asian Shares Fall Amid UK, Iran Tensions
By Investors Hub
Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Monday as hopes for an aggressive rate reduction by the U.S. central bank faded and tensions between Britain and Iran rose in the Persian Gulf.
Chinese stocks closed lower as a Nasdaq-style technology board on the Shanghai Stock Exchange marked its debut. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 37.23 points or 1.3 percent to 2,886.97, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index plunged 394.14 points or 1.4 percent to 28,371.26.
Japanese shares fell modestly as investors scaled back expectations of a 50 basis point rate cut at the July 30-31 Fed meeting. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling bloc won a solid majority in Japan’s upper house election on Sunday, helping limit the downside to some extent.
The Nikkei 225 Index ended down 50.20 points or 0.2 percent at 21,416.79, while the broader Topix closed 0.5 percent lower at 1,556.37.
Canon fell 1.2 percent and Nidec gave up 0.9 percent ahead of their earnings results due this week.
Asahi Group Holdings slumped 8.9 percent after the brewer said it would issue up to 200 billion yen (approx. $1.85 billion) of shares to fund its planned purchase of Anheuser Busch InBev’s Australian operations.
On the other hand, chip-related firms such as Advantest, Taiyo Yuden Co and Screen Holdings climbed 2-3 percent after Taiwan’s TSMC forecast that robust demand for 5G chips would drive a stronger second-half.
Australian markets edged down slightly as expectations for a smaller-than-expected U.S. rate cut curbed investor appetite for riskier assets.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index slipped 9.10 points or 0.1 percent to 6,691.20, while the broader All Ordinaries Index ended marginally lower at 6,781.20.
Higher iron ore prices helped lift miners, with BHP and Rio Tinto rising 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively. Smaller rival Fortescue Metals Group rallied 2.3 percent ahead of its quarterly output results due on Thursday.
Santos, Origin Energy and Oil Search climbed between 0.7 percent and 1.7 percent as oil prices rose on concerns that Iran’s seizure of a British tanker last week may lead to supply disruptions in West Asia.
Beach Energy soared 5.3 percent after beginning construction work on a $22 million redevelopment of the Katnook gas-processing plant near Penola.
The big four banks ended narrowly mixed, while healthcare stocks such as CSL and Cochlear ended down over 1 percent.
Seoul stocks finished little changed with a negative bias after the release of weak trade data showing that the country’s exports for the first 20 days of this month fell a sharp 13.6 percent from a year earlier. Investors also took a cautious stance ahead of the corporate earnings season.
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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