Economy
European Equities Stumble as Inflation Rises to 1.9%
By Investors Hub
European stocks have moved mostly lower on Friday on renewed trade worries after President Donald Trump announced plans to impose a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion worth and China pledged to retaliate with tariffs of its own.
While the French CAC 40 Index is nearly flat, the German DAX Index is down by 0.5 percent and the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.9 percent.
Novartis has moved higher after its unit Sandoz has announced the presentation of two long-term, Phase III studies: one each for biosimilar Zessly or infliximab and biosimilar Erelzi or etanercept.
Dassault Systèmes has also risen in Paris after the company said it is initiating a 2018-2023 plan to double its non-IFRS earnings per share.
Tesco shares have rallied after the retailer delivered positive like-for-like sales growth for a tenth consecutive period in the first quarter.
Rolls Royce Holdings has also soared. The jet-engine manufacturer said that it is well placed to exceed free cash flow of 1 billion pounds by 2020.
On the other hands, shares of H&M Group have slumped after the clothing group reported muted second quarter sales growth.
Meanwhile, German lender Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank have fallen as government bond yields extend declines on the back of dovish signals from the ECB.
Miner and commodities trader Glencore has also dropped in London after settling a legal dispute in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Regional automakers are trading mixed after industry data showed European passenger car sales grew only 0.8 percent year-on-year in May, following a 9.6 percent spike in April.
In economic news, Eurozone consumer prices increased as estimated in May, final data from Eurostat revealed.
Inflation rose to 1.9 percent in May from a revised 1.3 percent in April. A similar high rate was last seen in April 2017. The latest rate matched the initial estimate released on May 31st.
Germany’s central bank downgraded its growth outlook for this year as exports and business investment are expected to be less strong. The economy is forecast to grow 2 percent this year instead of the 2.5 percent projected in December.
Meanwhile, the projection for 2019 was raised to 1.9 percent from 1.7 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.
