Connect with us

Economy

Trump’s Trade Deal Comments Collapse European Markets

Published

on

By Investors Hub

European markets are mostly lower on Wednesday amid renewed concerns about the U.S.-China trade war after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose even higher tariffs on Chinese goods if a trade deal is not made between the two countries. Ongoing protests in Hong Kong have also weighed on sentiment.

After some positive news during the course of the previous week and over the weekend about the two countries closing in on an interim trade deal, optimism about a trade deal faded on Monday after it was reported that Trump is reluctant to roll out tariff cuts.

Now, with the U.S. President coming out with a threat to impose even higher tariffs on Chinese goods, investors are worried about further delays before the two countries agree on a pact.

While the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index has slumped by 0.9 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 0.6 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.3 percent.

In Germany, Wirecard shares have come under pressure after Ernest Young auditors refused to certify the 2017 annual balance sheet of Wirecard’s Singapore subsidiary.

Deutsche Bank, Continental, Infineon, Fresenius, Bayer, Covestro, Lufthansa, BASF, BMW and Volkswagen are also posting notable losses.

In the French market, Accor, ArcelorMittal, Renault, Essilor, Societe Generale, Schneider Electric, Saint Gobain and Total have declined sharply.

U.K. stocks are notably lower with trade war worries outweighing some upbeat corporate earnings reports and prompting investors to exit counters.

Among the stocks in the key index, Kingfisher, SAGE Group, Aviva, Pearson and 3i Group are sharply lower.

NMC Health, Taylor Wimpey, Legal & General, Tui, DCC, Rolls Royce Holdings, Rio Tinto, Prudential and Standard Chartered are also down with notable losses.

On the economic front, Germany producer prices declined for the second straight month in October largely driven by energy prices, data from Destatis showed.

Producer prices fell by 0.6 percent year-on-year in October, bigger than the 0.1 percent drop in September. This was the second straight decrease. Economists had forecast an annual 0.4 percent decrease.

On a monthly basis, producer prices dipped 0.2 percent, in contrast to a 0.1 percent increase in September. Prices were forecast to rise 0.1 percent.

The European Central Bank said in its Financial Stability Review that the euro area financial stability environment remains challenging and non-banks have increased their exposure to riskier assets to address profitability challenges.

The bank noted that investment funds and insurers increased their investment in high yield securities. The search for yield led them to assets of emerging market economies.

The central bank said signs of excessive risk-taking in some sectors require monitoring and targeted macro-prudential action in some countries.

Modupe Gbadeyanka is a fast-rising journalist with Business Post Nigeria. Her passion for journalism is amazing. She is willing to learn more with a view to becoming one of the best pen-pushers in Nigeria. Her role models are the duo of CNN's Richard Quest and Christiane Amanpour.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Economy

Four Securities Erase N51.17bn from NASD Exchange

Published

on

NASD Exchange

By Adedapo Adesanya

Four securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.95 per cent on Friday, erasing N41.17 billion from the bourse, which had its market capitalisation at N2.567 trillion compared with the previous session’s N2.618 trillion.

In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) decreased at the close of business by 85.28 points to 4,277.07 points from 4,362.32 points.

The price decliners were led by 11 Plc, which gave up N20.50 to sell at N200.50 per share compared with the preceding day’s N221.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dropped N16.94 to close at N155.20 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N172.14 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by N2.11 to N84.68 per share from N86.79 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 11 Kobo to end at N16.74 per unit, in contrast to the N16.85 per unit it closed a day earlier.

During the trading day, the value of transactions jumped by 172.1 per cent to N29.9 million from the preceding session’s N10.9 million, and the volume of trades soared by 136.5 per cent to 955,096 units from the previous 403,901 units, while the number of deals went down by 11.4 per cent to 31 deals from 35 deals.

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 68.6 million units sold for N4.7 billion.

GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed 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.

Continue Reading

Economy

Cautious Trading, Profit-taking Weaken Nigeria’s Stock Exchange by 0.66%

Published

on

Nigeria's stock exchange

By Dipo Olowookere

The last trading session of this week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a negative note, with a 0.66 per cent loss on Friday.

This was influenced by sustained selling pressure and cautious trading, which forced investors into profit-taking.

Data obtained by Business Post showed that the energy sector fell by 4.66 per cent, the insurance counter dipped by 2.23 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.96 per cent, and the banking segment shed 0.28 per cent, while the industrial goods space remained unchanged.

At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) of Nigeria’s stock exchange went down by 1,531.81 points to 232,049.02 points from 233,580.83 points, and the market capitalisation dropped N983 billion to settle at N148.905 trillion compared with Thursday’s N149.888 trillion.

Aradel was the worst-performing equity after it lost 10.00 per cent to close at N1,417.50. International Energy Insurance slipped by 9.95 per cent to N5.79, Trans-Nationwide Express depreciated by 9.89 per cent to N3.28, eTranzact crashed by 9.79 per cent to N14.75, and UPDC slumped by 9.72 per cent to N28.12.

The best-performing equity for the day was Universal Insurance, which gained 6.32 per cent to close at N1.01, McNichols grew by 5.52 per cent to N8.60, Linkage Assurance expanded by 4.67 per cent to N1.57, NGX Group appreciated by 4.35 per cent to N120.00, and Transcorp increased by 3.62 per cent to N41.50.

As look at the activity level indicated that investors traded 388.7 million stocks worth N18.4 billion in 44,631 deals compared with the 393.7 million stocks valued at N19.2 billion executed in 45,813 deals a day earlier, representing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 1.27 per cent, 4.17 per cent, and 2.58 per cent, respectively.

Continue Reading

Economy

Official FX Market Sees Naira Dip to N1,380.93/$1

Published

on

naira official market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira recorded a loss of 82 Kobo or 0.06 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 26, exchanging at N1,380.93/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,380.11/$1.

Equally, the domestic currency further weakened against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market yesterday by N6.06 to settle at N1,824.90/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,818.84/£1, and lost N10.74 on the Euro to sell at N1,577 .58/€1 versus N1,566.84/€1.

At the GTBank forex counter, the Naira depreciated against the greenback during the session by N4 to close at N1,387/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s value of N1,383/$1, and at the parallel market, it was unchanged at N1,395/$1.

Interbank FX activity among financial institutions has fluctuated amid a sharp slowdown in forex market interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as it allows demand and supply to move the market.

Also, a stronger greenback has generally put significant pressure on emerging-market currencies.

Nigeria has accessed the first tranche of a proposed $5 billion derivatives financing arrangement with First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, the largest lender in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The $5 billion facility, approved by the National Assembly earlier this year, is part of the federal government’s plan to diversify external financing sources and reduce borrowing costs. Structured as a Total Return Swap with First Abu Dhabi Bank, proceeds are earmarked for refinancing debt and supporting infrastructure financing.

If the proceeds are brought into the country through the official FX market, the transaction will increase the currency reserves or Dollar liquidity.

At the cryptocurrency market, Solana (SOL) grew by 2.2 per cent to $71.92, Cardano (ADA) gained 1.1 per cent to trade at $0.1474, Ripple (XRP) also appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $1.05, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 0.9 per cent to $0.0755, and Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.4 per cent to $1,578.84.

On the flip side, TRON (TRX) slid 0.6 per cent to $0.3203, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 0.3 per cent to $564.33, and Bitcoin fell by 0.2 per cent to $60,219.37, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.

Continue Reading

Trending