Economy
North Korea’s Missile Fires Asian Stocks to Danger Zone
Asian stocks fell on Wednesday as weak manufacturing data from the U.S. and the eurozone added to investor worries about slowing global economic growth. Markets were further rattled by North Korea’s firing of what is believed to be a submarine-launched ballistic missile.
Mainland Chinese markets remained closed for the National Day holiday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 49.58 points, or 0.2 percent, to 26,042.69 after fresh violent demonstrations in the city that saw one protester shot by police.
Japanese shares also fell as weak manufacturing data from the U.S. offered fresh evidence that the U.S.-China trade war is slowing global growth.
The Nikkei 225 Index dropped 106.63 points, or 0.5 percent, to 21,778.61, while the broader Topix closed 0.4 percent lower at 1,596.29.
Exporters ended broadly lower as the weak U.S. data weighed on the U.S. dollar and prompted some long-unwinding trade. Toyota Motor, Honda Motor and Sony declined 1-2 percent.
Tech stocks closed on a mixed note, with Advantest rising 0.7 percent, while Tokyo Electron dropped 1.1 percent. Market heavyweight SoftBank gave up 2.7 percent.
In economic news, Japanese firms’ inflation expectations held steady in the third quarter, the Tankan summary of “Inflation Outlook of Enterprises” from Bank of Japan showed today. Companies expect annual inflation of 0.9 percent in the year ahead, unchanged from the previous outlook.
Australian markets fell sharply to hit a three-week low as investors fretted over slowing global growth. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index tumbled 102.90 points, or 1.5 percent, to 6,639.90, while the broader All Ordinaries Index ended the session down 99.70 points, or 1.5 percent, at 6,753.30.
National Australia Bank lost 2.3 percent after the lender said it would set aside a further A$1.18 billion (S$1.1 billion) to repay wrongly charged customer fees. The other three big banks fell between 1.5 percent and 2.1 percent.
Lower commodity prices pulled down miners, with BHP and Rio Tinto falling 1.9 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively. Energy stocks such as Woodside Petroleum and Santos dropped over 1 percent, while Beach Energy slumped 3.2 percent.
Mayne Pharma Group soared 19 percent after it signed a 20-year supply and license agreement with Belgium-based Mithra Pharmaceuticals to commercialize a new contraceptive drug.
Seoul stocks plunged as weak manufacturing data from the U.S. and the eurozone coupled with rising geopolitical tensions sapped investors’ appetite for risk.
After North Korea fired a ballistic missile from the sea, the National Security Council in Seoul expressed “strong concern” over the launch of what it said may have been a submarine-launched ballistic missile.
The Kospi lost 40.51 points, or 2 percent, to finish at 2,031.91. Samsung Electronics declined 2.6 percent, while SK Hynix and Hyundai Motor lost around 3 percent each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange opened the week weaker by 0.47 per cent on Monday, June 15, biting N12.38 billion out of the market capitalisation to N2.605 trillion from N2.617 trillion.
This also brought down the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 20.68 points to 4,354.33 points from last Friday’s 4,375.01 points.
The loss was witnessed despite the unlisted securities exchange closing the session with two price gainers and two price losers.
Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc crashed by N3.31 to trade at N80.62 per share compared with the preceding trading day’s N83.93 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc declined by 7 Kobo to close at N2.80 per unit versus N2.87 per unit.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc gained 20 Kobo to sell at N2.78 per share compared with the preceding session’s N2.58 per share, and UBN Property Plc improved by 12 Kobo to N2.10 per unit from N1.98 per unit.
During the session, the volume of securities traded by investors depreciated by 68.2 per cent to 992,164 units from the 3.1 million units achieved last Friday, the value of securities moderated by 42.8 per cent to N39.2 million from the preceding session’s N68.5 million, and the number of deals decreased by 14.8 per cent to 23 deals from the 27 deals reported in the previous trading day.
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 worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 66.8 million units exchanged for N4.6 billion.
The most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis remained GNI Plc 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 followed with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira recorded a positive performance against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, June 15.
At the official FX window, the Nigerian legal tender appreciated against its US counterpart by N7.56 or 0.55 per cent to sell at N1,356.27/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,363.83/$1.
The local currency also gained N12.39 against the Pound Sterling during the trading day to trade at N1,808.86/£1 versus last Friday’s value of N1,821.25/£1, but shed N2.96 against the Euro to sell at N1,575.85/€1 compared with the previous N1,572.89/€1.
At the GTBank forex desk, the Nigerian Naira depreciated against the greenback yesterday by N2 to quote at N1,373/$1 versus the preceding session’s N1,371/$1, and at the black market, it maintained stability at N1,380/$1.
The pressure on the Naira has remained calm, as Nigeria’s gross external reserves surged to $50.505 billion, the highest since January 2009, driven by inflows from oil sales, affirming expectations that the local currency will remain along a stable band.
Meanwhile, the headline inflation rate rose to 15.93 per cent in May 2026, extending the upward trend recorded since the beginning of the year, according to the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The figure shows an increase from the 15.69 per cent recorded in April, indicating that prices of goods and services continued to climb despite a slower monthly rate of inflation.
The NBS said the latest figures suggest that while prices are still rising, the rate of increase has moderated from the previous month, largely impacted by the war in the Middle East, which drove up fuel prices.
In the cryptocurrency market, top benchmarked coins reversed early losses after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates to a 31-year high in its fight against inflation.
There had been profit-taking across the board as traders waited for Iran’s signing after US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance signed an electronic copy of a memorandum of understanding. President Trump said the Strait of Hormuz, already partially open, will fully reopen on Friday.
Ripple (XRP) soared by 3.7 per cent to $1.22, Solana (SOL) grew by 3.6 per cent to $73.82, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 2.7 per cent to $1,765.24, and Bitcoin (BTC) gained 0.7 per cent to trade at $66,191.45.
On the flip side, Cardano (ADA) slid 1.9 per cent to $0.1776, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 1.7 per cent to $0.0874, TRON (TRX) slumped by 0.8 per cent to $0.3180, and Binance Coin (BNB) declined by 0.6 per cent to $614.10, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
Weak investor sentiment sliced 0.63 per cent from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Monday, the first trading session after a one-day break last Friday for Democracy Day celebration in Nigeria.
The stock market came under selling pressure yesterday, leaving all the major sectors of the bourse facing southwards.
The energy index shed 3.20 per cent, the banking space lost 1.17 per cent, the insurance counter declined by 0.68 per cent, and the consumer goods sector crumbled by 0.39 per cent, while the industrial goods segment closed flat.
Consequently, the market capitalisation decreased by N844 billion to N156.126 trillion from N156.970 trillion, and the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 1,316.40 points to 243,422.34 points from 244,738.74 points.
International Energy Insurance gave up 9.99 per cent to trade at N6.40, eTranzact crashed by 9.97 per cent to N14.90, Abbey Mortgage Bank lost 9.65 per cent to finish at N10.30, Oando dropped 9.43 per cent to quote at N48.00, and NAHCO tumbled by 9.19 per cent to N163.00.
On the flip side, Royal Exchange appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N1.65, Ikeja Hotel moved up by 9.97 per cent to N47.45, Neimeth improved by 9.94 per cent to N9.40, Consolidated Hallmark gained 9.58 per cent to sell for N9.04, and University Press climbed 9.09 per cent to N6.00.
Yesterday, market participants traded 569.1 million shares valued at N31.4 billion in 77,652 deals compared with 1.7 billion shares worth N52.8 billion exchanged in 49,807 deals in the preceding session, showing a rise in the number of deals by 55.91 per cent, a tightening in the trading volume by 66.52 per cent, and a shrinkage in the trading value by 40.53 per cent.
Sterling Holdings was the busiest stock on Monday with a turnover of 103.0 million units worth N805.5 million, GTCO exchanged 41.3 million equities for N5.6 billion, FCMB traded 37.9 million shares for N433.7 million, Access Holdings sold 27.3 million equities worth N666.0 million, and UBA transacted 20.4 million stocks valued at N877.3 million.
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