Economy
Asian Shares Fall as Trade War Fears Resurface
By Investors Hub
Asian stocks fell on Thursday as trade war fears resurfaced and the U.S. Federal Reserve sounded slightly more hawkish after raising interest rates for the second time this year.
Investors also adopted a cautious stance ahead of the European Central Bank’s monetary policy announcement later in the day amid expectations the central bank will signal a winding down of its vast bond-buying program by the end of this year.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index dipped 5.33 points or 0.2 percent to 3,044.46 after reports suggested the Trump administration is preparing to proceed with tariffs on Chinese goods.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 284.98 points or 0.9 percent to close at 30,440.17 after a slew of economic data from China disappointed investors.
Industrial production in China was up an annual 6.8 percent in May, the National Bureau of Statistics said. That was shy of expectations for 7.0 percent, which would have been unchanged from April.
Chinese retail sales grew an annual 8.5 percent in May – also missing expectations for 9.6 percent and down from 9.4 percent in the previous month.
Fixed asset investment gained 6.1 percent year-on-year, missing forecasts for 7.0 percent, which would have been unchanged from the April reading.
Japanese shares lost ground as a firmer yen on worries about global trade and a faster pace of interest rate hikes sapped investors’ appetite for risk.
The Nikkei 225 Index slumped 227.77 points or 1 percent to 22,738.61, while the broader Topix Index closed 0.9 percent lower at 1,783.89.
Toyota shed 0.9 percent after saying it will invest $1 billion in Asia ride-sharing company Grab. Honda Motor, Nissan, Panasonic and Sony declined 1-2 percent. Toshiba jumped 2.7 percent after announcing a share buyback.
Japanese industrial production climbed 0.5 percent month-over-month in April, faster than the 0.3 percent estimated earlier, final data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed. This marked the third successive monthly increase.
Australian shares fluctuated before closing slightly lower, dragged down by banks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index edged down 6.90 points or 0.1 percent to 6,016.60, while the broader All Ordinaries Index ended little changed with a negative bias.
The big four banks fell between half a percent and 1.1 percent ahead of ECB and BoJ meetings. Atlas Iron slumped 18.2 percent after the government said it doesn’t have priority rights to develop certain ship berths in Port Hedland.
Material stocks bucked the downward trend, with heavyweights BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto rising 0.4 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.
Gold miner Newcrest advanced 1 percent to snap a four-session losing streak. Telstra Corp, Australia’s largest telecom company, jumped over 5 percent after an upgrade from J.P. Morgan.
DroneShield’s shares climbed almost 14 percent after the drone security firm won its biggest ever order for DroneGuns from an unspecified Middle Eastern country.
The unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 5.4 percent in May, a tad below expectations for 5.5 percent and down from 5.6 percent in April. The economy added 12,000 jobs last month, shy of expectations for 19,000 after an addition of 22,600 a month earlier.
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.
-
Feature/OPED6 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism10 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz3 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking8 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy3 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking3 years agoSort Codes of UBA Branches in Nigeria
-
Banking3 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports3 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn
