Wednesday, August 10, 2022: The rate at which the naira exchanges for the dollar in the parallel (black) market stood at N672/$1 as of the close of the trading session for the reporting period. The dollar strengthened and gained about N7 against the naira compared to the opening rate. Also, historic rates from Rate Captain show that on a week-on-week basis, the naira lost 7.5 percent of its value to the dollar, after dropping by N47 against the dollar from N625/$ quoted the previous week. Based on the information obtained from foreign exchange marketers in Lagos, trading activities at the B2B market closed with the exchange rate hovering around N676/$ for the same period being reported.
According to data from FMDQ (Tuesday, August 9, 2022), the Nigerian Investors and Exporters (I&E) FX Window closed the trading session on a positive note as the naira to dollar exchange rate stood at N428.75/$, implying an uptick of 0.5 percent from the previous day’s closing price (N431). Also, the naira rose by 0.2 percent from the opening price (N429.58/$1) recorded as of the beginning of the trading session.
An exchange rate of N444/$ was the highest rate recorded during the intra-day trading before it settled at N428.75/$ at the end of the trading session, while it also traded as low as 417/$ during intra-day trading. According to data from FMDQ, a total of $113.64 million was traded at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) Window for the reporting period, representing a decrease of 1.8 percent from the $115.67 million traded the previous day.
Gross Foreign Reserve
Nigeria’s gross foreign reserve has declined for the third consecutive time since the uptick it recorded on the 4th of August. According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the gross foreign reserve of the country as of this writing, stands at $38.92 billion, declining by $25 million (0.064 percent) from $39.95 billion recorded on August 8, 2022.
Capital Market Update
As of August 10, 2022, the Nigerian equities market closed the trading session with the NGX All Share Index (ASI) rising by 147 basis points (bps) to close at 50075.47. The trading volume was 133,591,047 units, decreasing by 5 percent from 140,610,346 units recorded at the end of the previous day’s trading. The total value that exchanged hands was N2,437,629,324.15, representing a 52 percent increase from the value (N1,600,148,807.72) at the close of the previous day of trading.
All the sectors under our review had a positive performance as their indices for the reporting period increased. The Insurance index having the highest increase, rose by 191 basis points (bps), Pension by 83 bps, Banking by 42 bps, Consumer Goods by 33 bps, and the oil and Gas index, having the lowest increase, added only 6 bps.
NAHCO stock led the top gainers as it rose by 10 percent, while ABCTRANS led the top decliners after dropping by 6.67 percent. UBA was the most traded by volume and also by value as 20453288.00 units of its shares were traded at N143647202.00.
