Economy

Asian Shares Fall as Trade War Fears Resurface

Published

8 years ago

14/06/2018

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

NASD Exchange Extends Winning Streak by 1.70%

Published

9 minutes ago

26/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rallied by 1.70 per cent on Thursday, June 25, after three price gainers overpowered the two price losers recorded at the close of business.

Consequently, the market capitalisation of the trading platform increased by N43.79 billion to N2.618 trillion from N2.574 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 72.96 points to close at 4,362.32 points, in contrast to Wednesday’s 4,289.36 points.

Yesterday, the price advancers were led by Nipco Plc, which chalked up N31.79 to close at N349.76 per unit versus the preceding day’s N317.97 per unit. Okitipupa Plc gained N18.00 to end at N298.00 per share versus the previous session’s N280.00 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went up by N7.11 to N86.79 per unit from N79.68 per unit.

On the flip side, Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc crumbled by 32 Kobo to close at N21.09 per share compared with the N21.41 per share it closed at midweek, and Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 25 Kobo to N2.51 per unit from N2.76 per unit.

During the session, the value of securities traded by investors went down by 86.7 per cent to N10.9 million from the preceding session’s N82.9 million, and the volume of securities dropped 84.9 per cent to 10.9 million units from the previous 82.9 million, while the number of deals grew by 84.2 per cent to 35 deals from 19 deals.

At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 68.4 million units exchanged for N4.7 billion.

GNI Plc was also 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 traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.

Economy

Bears Plunge NGX All-Share Index by 0.64% to 235,074.54 Points

Published

19 minutes ago

26/06/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited further suffered a 0.64 per cent decline on Thursday as the bears tightened their grip on the bourse.

For the second straight session, all the key sectors of Customs Street pointed south, with the energy counter down by 5.22 per cent. The insurance index slumped by 2.59 per cent, the banking space depreciated by 0.28 per cent, and the consumer goods segment moderated by 0.06 per cent, while the industrial goods sector was flat, though with a marginal fall.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 1,493.71 points to 233,580.83 points from 235,074.54 points, and the market capitalisation retreated by N959 billion to N149.888 trillion from N150.847 trillion.

Investor sentiment remained weak after a negative market breadth index, as there were 21 price gainers and 34 price losers.

Aradel and Deap Capital went down by 10.00 per cent each to N1,575.00 and N4.05, respectively. Trans-Nationwide Express fell by 9.90 per cent to N3.64, Regency Alliance slipped by 9.57 per cent to N85 Kobo, and C&I Leasing dipped by 9.48 per cent to N28.12.

Conversely, Red Star Express grew by 9.60 per cent to N24.55, Legend Internet expanded by 9.09 per cent to N6.00, Neimeth appreciated by 7.10 per cent to N8.30, Abbey Mortgage Bank rose by 5.45 per cent to N8.70, and Ellah Lakes improved by 4.65 per cent to N9.00.

Yesterday, market participants traded 393.7 million equities valued at N19.2 billion in 45,813 deals compared with the 488.1 million equities worth N20.9 billion transacted in 46,239 deals recorded a day earlier, implying a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 19.34 per cent, 8.13 per cent, and 0.92 per cent, respectively.

The most active stock for the session was Access Holdings with a turnover of 39.1 million units worth N896.2 million, Chams traded 24.5 million units valued at N96.5 million, Fidelity Bank sold 24.1 million units for N436.9 million, Sterling Holdings exchanged 23.8 million units valued at N182.2 million, and Zenith Bank transacted 18.9 million units worth N2.1 billion.

Economy

Naira Gains 0.03% Against Dollar at NAFEX, Bitcoin Drops Below $60,000

Published

27 minutes ago

26/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira recorded a marginal gain of 43 Kobo or 0.03 per cent against the United States Dollar on Wednesday, June 25, in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) to sell for N1,380.11/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,380.54/$1.

However, the Nigerian currency lost N3.21 against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session to close at N1,818.84/£1, in contrast to Wednesday’s exchange rate of N1,815.63/£1, and against the Euro, it fell by N3.21 to trade at N1,566.84/€1 versus midweek’s value of N1,563.63/€1.

In the same vein, the Nigerian Naira depreciated against the Dollar at the GTBank FX deck yesterday by N3 to sell for N1,383/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N1,380/$1, and at the black market window, it remained unchanged at N1,395/$1.

Interbank FX turnover at the NFEM window surged by about 56 per cent day-on-day to close at $195.371 million from $125.588 million reported on Wednesday, according to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The Naira continues to feel the impact of rising FX payments and a strong US Dollar amid a sharp slowdown in forex market interventions by the central bank, with more than six weeks of no support for the local currency.

Nigeria’s foreign reserves increased further to $51.142 billion, while oil prices continue to be held in the $70 range by developments in the geopolitical scene.

Meanwhile, in the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin sank below $60,000 as more than $1 billion in crypto positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, with longs accounting for $842 million of the damage. About 148,500 traders were wiped out. The largest single position was a $38 million bitcoin-dollar bet on Hyperliquid. It led at $489 million in liquidations and dropped 2.8 per cent to sell at $59,862.61.

Ethereum (ETH) crashed by 5.5 per cent to $1,554.57, Ripple (XRP) declined by 4.8 per cent to $1.03, Cardano (ADA) fell by 4.3 per cent to $0.1433, Dogecoin (DOGE) dropped 3.4 per cent to sell at $0.0745, TRON (TRX) slid 2.2 per cent to $0.3215, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.8 per cent to $561.34, and Solana (SOL) dipped by 0.3 per cent to $62.94, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) sold flat at $1.00 each.