Friday, August 8, 2022: The Nigerian Investors and Exporters (I&E) FX Window closed the trading session on a bearish note with the naira slipping down from N429 opening price to close at N431/$1. On a day-on-day basis, the naira also declined by 4 percent from N428.12. This depreciation came despite a 61 percent increase in forex turnover.
An exchange rate of N444/$ was the highest rate recorded during the intra-day trading before it settled at N428.12/$ at the end of the trading session, while it also traded as low as 415.5/$ during intra-day trading. According to data from FMDQ, a total of $115.67 million was traded at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) Window for the reporting period, representing an increase of 60.83 percent from the $71.92 million traded the previous day.
At the parallel market, the naira weakened by 0.8 percent against the US dollar to close at N660 at the parallel (black) market. The outlook of the parallel market exchange rate is gloomy as the appreciation in the value of the previously recorded naira is offset by the depreciation in the past few days. On a week-on-week basis, the naira still maintains an appreciation value of 3.6 percent against the dollar. Trading activities at the B2B market show that the exchange rate closed at about N670/$ for the same period being reported. This is based on the information obtained from BDC operators in Lagos.
Foreign Reserves
According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the gross foreign reserve stands at $39.05 billion as of August 5, 2022, declining by $37.5 million (0.1 percent) from $39.09 billion recorded on August 2, 2022.
Capital Market Update
As of August 8, 2022, the Nigerian equities market closed the trading session with the NGX All Share Index (ASI) declining by 46 basis points (bps) to close at 50489.73. The trading volume was 45,562,229 units, decreasing by 69 percent from 148,810,047 units recorded at the end of the previous day’s trading. The total value that exchanged hands was N713,663,342.29, representing a 63 percent increase from the value (N1,925,407,888.83) at the close of the previous day of trading.
The indices for some sectors under our review increased while others recorded a different performance. Insurance and Consumer Goods recorded a bullish performance as the two indices closed in green. Oil and Gas stabled, while Pension and Banking Indices closed in red. The Insurance index having the highest increase, rose by 136 basis points (bps), Consumer Goods by 17 bps, Oil and Gas stable, Pension declined by only 69 bps, while Banking declined by 110 bps.
NEM stock led the top gainers as it rose by 10 percent, while CHAMPION led the decliners after dropping by 6.45 percent. JAPAULGOLD emerged as the most traded stock by volume as 22227809.00 units of its stock were traded, while GTCO was the most traded by value (N115410309.75).
