Economy
Asian Stocks Rally on Renewed Confidence
By Investors Hub
Asian markets rose on Thursday, reflecting investor confidence in the global economic outlook following comments from central bankers around the world.
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney indicated on Wednesday that monetary stimulus may need to be withdrawn to some extent in the future if U.K. wages pick up and business investment strengthens. Separately, Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz told CNBC that low rates “have done their job.”
The dollar wallowed at one-year lows against the euro despite media reports suggesting that markets misinterpreted comments made a day earlier by ECB President Mario Draghi about adjustment in the central bank’s monetary stimulus.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 14.70 points or 0.5 percent to 3,187.90 as investors awaited monthly indexes on factory and service sector activity on Friday for further clues on the world’s second-largest economy. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 281.92 points or 1.1 percent to 25,965.42.
Japanese shares closed near their highest level in nearly two years as the yen held steady despite North Korea’s warning that the country would keep building up its nuclear arsenal regardless of sanctions, pressure or a military attack.
Investors also shrugged off weak retail sales figures, which showed that Japanese retail sales fell a seasonally adjusted 1.6 percent sequentially in May.
The Nikkei 225 Index rose 89.89 points or 0.5 percent to 20,220.30, while the broader Topix index closed 0.6 percent higher at 1,624.07. Advantest Corp rose 0.8 percent and Shin-Etsu Chemical added 1 percent after gains by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.
Meanwhile, Toshiba tumbled 3.7 percent after the company said it had filed a $1 billion lawsuit against its joint venture partner Western Digital (WDC), accusing the U.S. hard-drive maker of interfering with the sale process of its flash memory chip unit.
Australian shares posted strong gains for a second straight day, with materials and financial stocks pacing the gainers, as commodity prices inched higher and the Federal Reserve allowed all 34 of the biggest banks in the U.S. to ramp up their dividend payouts and buy back shares.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index jumped 62.40 points or 1.1 percent to 5,818.10, while the broader All Ordinaries index finished 59.80 points or 1 percent higher at 5,855.90.
The big four banks rose between 1.6 percent and 2.4 percent, Bank of Queensland gained 2.4 percent and investment bank Macquarie Group advanced 2.2 percent.
Miners BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group rose about 3 percent each, while energy majors Woodside Petroleum, Santos and Oil Search climbed 2-5 percent.
On the other hand, online real estate advertiser REA Group shed 0.8 percent after saying it would incur a non-cash impairment charge of about A$180 million in its full-year results due to weak market conditions in Asia. Aveo Group tumbled 3.2 percent and BWP Trust lost 2.9 percent.
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.
