Economy
US Vice Presdent’s Comments Weigh on Asian Equities
By Investors Hub
Asian stocks ended mixed on Monday after remarks from U.S. Vice President Mike Pence at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit on Saturday added to anxiety over the U.S.-China trade war.
Pence said the U.S. would not back down from its trade dispute until China changes its ways. The stark warning dampened investor hopes for a thaw in U.S.-Chinese trade relations ahead of the G20 summit later this month in Argentina.
Comments from two U.S. Federal Reserve officials cautioning about global economic growth and a CIA report concluding that Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was behind the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi also kept investors nervous.
China?s Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.9 percent to close at a fresh one-month high of 2,703.51, helped by gains by financials and property developers. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed up 0.7 percent at 26,372.
Japanese shares rebounded from last week’s sell-off, with chip-related stocks outperforming. The Nikkei 225 Index climbed or 0.7 percent to 21,821.16 after losing 2.6 percent last week. The broader Topix Index closed 0.5 percent higher at 1,637.61.
Tech stocks bounced back after heavy losses last week following Nvidia?s disappointing earnings. Advantest gained 2.2 percent, Tokyo Electron rallied 3.6 percent and Screen Holdings jumped 3.7 percent.
Lower U.S. yields weighed on the banking sector, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group ending down around 2 percent.
In economic news, Japan posted a merchandise trade deficit of 449.3 billion yen in October, a government report showed, missing forecasts for a deficit of 70.0 billion yen following the 131.3 billion yen surplus in September.
Exports were up an annual 8.2 percent, shy of expectations for an increase of 8.9 percent, while imports surged up 19.9 percent versus forecasts for 14.1 percent
Meanwhile, Australian stocks fell notably, dragged down by financial and energy companies. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.6 percent to 5,693.70, while the broader All Ordinaries Index also ended down 0.6 percent at 5,786.40.
Energy stocks such as Origin Energy, Woodside Petroleum and Santos fell over 1 percent after U.S. crude prices posted their sixth straight weekly loss. Viva Energy Group tumbled 12.2 percent after the company lowered its profit forecast for the 2018 financial year.
The big four banks fell between 0.6 percent and 0.8 percent as the royal commission’s final public hearing kicked off. Health insurer Medibank Private slumped 6.1 percent after losing a defense contract.
Myer Holdings plunged 8.9 percent as it resumed trading after being forced into a trading halt on Friday amid reports that it may have breached disclosure rules by failing to provide details of the extent of its sales decline.
On the other hand, mining heavyweights BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto ended marginally higher amid stronger metal prices. Gold miner Evolution Mining jumped nearly 3 percent after gold prices rose on Friday.
Fairfax Media rallied 2.4 percent after the company’s shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favor of the merger with Nine Entertainment. Nine Entertainment shares advanced 1.8 percent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has defended its decision to allow Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to invest in the parent companies of their custodians, insisting that adequate safeguards are in place to protect contributors’ funds.
The director-general of the pension regulator, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, speaking on Tuesday during the Meet the Press Briefing at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the commission’s decision to relax the investment restriction followed a comprehensive risk assessment that found minimal conflict of interest.
She explained that under PenCom’s investment regulations, PFAs are only permitted to invest pension assets in carefully selected instruments that meet stringent criteria, including profitability, strong credit ratings and proven track records.
According to her, the commission regularly reviews its investment regulations, conducts routine examinations and spot checks on PFAs to ensure strict compliance with established risk management guidelines.
“PFAs cannot just go into the stock market and buy any kind of stock. There are strict guidelines. Companies must demonstrate profitability, have a proven track record and satisfy other criteria before pension funds can invest,” she said.
Ms Oloworaran noted that each PFA also operates under the oversight of a board, an investment committee and a risk management committee, providing additional layers of governance to safeguard contributors’ funds.
She said PenCom recently issued a circular allowing PFAs to invest in the parent companies of their custodians after determining that the potential conflict of interest was negligible.
The PenCom boss explained that the parent companies involved are largely Tier-1 banks, including First Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Zenith Bank, which she described as A-rated institutions with strong financial foundations.
She said the policy was intended to widen investment opportunities for pension funds without compromising safety.
Using Stanbic IBTC as an example, Ms Oloworaran explained that if its custodian is Zenith Bank, the previous restriction prevented the pension administrator from investing in Zenith Bank shares despite the bank’s strong performance.
“We reviewed the risks and any potential conflict of interest and found the risks to be very low. That is why we opened that investment window,” she said.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Analysts at Meristem Research have predicted that the inflation rate for June 2026 in Nigeria should marginally rise to 15.95 per cent on a year-on-year basis from the 15.93 per cent reported in May 2026.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is expected to release inflation numbers for last month later today, Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
In its report sighted by Business Post, Meristem Research said it expects inflationary pressures to re-emerge across key economies in the near term, as the re-escalation of the US-Iran conflict has reignited upward pressure on global oil prices.
It disclosed that this marks a sharp reversal from most of June, when the ceasefire between the two countries helped drive oil prices lower, raising expectations of some relief on the inflation front.
With conflicts now flaring up again, oil prices are likely to increase again, and the anticipated easing in energy-driven inflation may not materialise as broadly as earlier envisaged.
“Nonetheless, some relief is likely from the food segment, where robust supply conditions across major producing regions and softening demand should continue to ease food price pressures,” it stated.
The team also explained that it projected a 15.95 per cent inflation rate because of the lingering effects of persistent food price pressures.
“However, we expect core inflation to moderate as the sharp reversal in energy prices begins to filter through to transportation, distribution, and other energy-related costs, easing underlying price pressures.
“On a month-on-month basis, the combined effect of lower petrol prices, a relatively stable Naira, and the gradual pass-through of reduced energy costs across the supply chain should exert further downward pressure on inflation.
“Based on our assessment, food inflation is expected to remain the key swing factor, as seasonal pre-harvest supply constraints are likely to offset some of the gains from lower logistics costs,” it said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and Afriland Properties Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.61 per cent on Tuesday, July 14.
CSCS Plc saw its stock value drop N9.08 to close at N82.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N91.48 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc slid by 17 Kobo to sell at N15.00 per unit versus N15.70 per unit.
The losses recorded by the two securities pulled back the market capitalisation by N41.64 billion to N2.546 trillion from N2.587 trillion, and cracked the NASD Security Index (NSI) by 69.36 points to 4,242.31 points from 4,311.67 points.
It was observed that the exchange witnessed two price advancers during the session, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which gained N1.37 to end at N151.37 per share compared with the previous day’s N150.00 per share, and Food Concepts Plc chalked up 5 Kobo to settle at N2.50 per unit versus N2.45 per unit.
The volume of securities traded by market participants surged by 50.7 per cent to 13.7 million units from the previous 9.1 million units, while the value of securities went down by 79.7 per cent to N65.2 million from N320.4 million, and the number of deals crashed by 3.6 per cent to 27 deals from the previous session’s 28 deals.
At the close of transactions, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with the sale of 3.4 billion units for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc, which exchanged 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units transacted for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the trading day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth 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 valued at N415.7 million.
