Economy
Asian Stocks Trade Bullish Thursday
By Investors Hub
Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Thursday ahead of an impending ECB policy decision later in the day, with new easing measures expected.
Investors also looked ahead to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s two-day Federal Open Market Committee policy meeting next week, when the central bank is expected to continue cutting interest rates.
Chinese shares ended on a firmer note as U.S. President Donald Trump announced a short delay to scheduled tariff hikes on billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods in response to China’s decision to exempt some U.S. anti-cancer drugs and other goods from its tariffs.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index climbed 22.42 points, or 0.8 percent, to 3,031.24 ahead of a holiday on Friday for the Mid-Autumn festival. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended down 0.3 percent at 27,087.63.
Japanese shares hit a four-month high as the yen continued to weaken amid signs of a thaw in trade tensions between the United States and China.
Investors also welcomed data showing that core machine orders in Japan fell a seasonally adjusted 6.6 percent sequentially in July. That beat expectations for a drop of 8.1 percent following the 13.9 percent surge in June.
The Nikkei 225 Index climbed 161.85 points, or 0.8 percent, to close at 21,759.61, its highest level since May 7. The broader Topix closed 0.7 percent higher at 1,595.10.
Online fashion retailer Zozo soared 13.4 percent after Yahoo Japan Corp. agreed to take a majority stake in the company. Yahoo Japan shares surged 2.4 percent. Tech stocks such as Tokyo Electron, Advantest and Screen Holdings climbed 3-5 percent.
Australian markets eked out modest gains, with financials and miners leading the gains on expectations the ECB will announce a new quantitative easing program later in the day.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 16.90 points, or 0.3 percent, to 6,654.90, while the broader All Ordinaries Index edged up 13.50 points, or 0.2 percent, to 6,765.70.
Commonwealth Bank advanced 0.9 percent after it issued $2.5 billion worth of subordinated notes to bolster capital. The other big banks rose between 0.2 percent and 0.6 percent.
Higher iron ore prices boosted miners, with BHP edging up 0.1 percent and Rio Tinto adding 0.6 percent. Diversified miner South32 shed 0.7 percent on going ex-dividend. Whitehaven Coal tumbled 3.4 percent.
Santos, Beach Energy and Woodside Petroleum dropped 1-2 percent after oil prices plunged nearly 3 percent overnight following a downward revision in OPEC’s oil demand forecast and speculation that the U.S. may ease sanctions on Iran.
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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