Economy
Asian Stocks Close Higher After Congress Pass $4.1tr Budget Resolution
By Investors Hub
Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street after Congress passed a $4.1 trillion budget resolution and data on jobless claims, factory orders and trade pointed to underlying strength in the economy. However, overall gains remained muted ahead of the U.S. September jobs report.
Japanese shares hit a two-year high, with a weakening yen on hopes for U.S. tax reform as well as record highs on Wall Street giving local markets a lift.
The Nikkei 225 Index finished 62.15 points or 0.3 percent higher at 20,690.71, while the broader Topix Index closed 0.3 percent higher at 1,687.16.
Among the top gainers, Kobe Steel, Mitsubishi Motors, Dai-ichi Life Insurance, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, Fast Retailing and Sumitomo Metal Mining jumped 2-4 percent.
MS&AD Insurance advanced 1.6 percent after it agreed to invest 800 million pounds, or $1.5 billion, to acquire a stake of up to 15 percent in Swiss Re’s U.K.-based unit ReAssure Jersey One Ltd.
Australian shares rallied, led by financial and material stocks after the major U.S. indexes rose solidly overnight to reach fresh record closing highs.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index jumped 58.90 points or 1 percent to 5,710.70, while the broader All Ordinaries Index surged up 57.10 points or 1 percent to 5,777.40.
Mining heavyweights BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto rallied around 2 percent each and healthcare firm CSL rose 1.2 percent as the Aussie dollar continued to fall following Thursday’s dismal retail sales data.
Woodside Petroleum, Oil Search and Santos gained between 1.6 percent and 2.3 percent after crude oil prices rebounded to above $50 a barrel overnight. The big four banks all ended up more than 1 percent.
Investors shrugged off a survey from the Australian Industry Group showing that Australia’s construction sector expanded at a slower pace in September.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 78.86 points or 0.3 percent to 28,458.04 as trading resumed after Thursday’s holiday. The index closed at its highest level in nearly a decade. Chinese and South Korean markets were closed for trading.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for 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.
