Tuesday, July 26, 2022: The Nigerian Investors and Exporters (I&E) FX Window closed the trading session on a bearish note as the naira dipped to N431/$ representing a 0.9 percent depreciation from the opening rate (N427.30/$) at the beginning of trading activities. Also, on a day-on-day basis, the naira declined by 0.9 percent from N427.17/$ recorded as of the end of trading the activities on Monday
An exchange rate of N444/$1 remained the highest rate recorded during the intra-day trading before it settled at N431/$ at the end of the trading session, while it also traded as low as N414/$ during intra-day trading. According to data from FMDQ, a total of $58.03 million was traded at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) Window for the reporting period. Represent a decline of 35 percent from the $89.7 million traded the previous day. The scarcity of the greenback in the official market has led to an increased pressure n the naira in the parallel market. This is causing the price of the dollar to shoot up.
In the parallel market, the naira closed against the dollar at about N665/$, declining by 1.5 percent compared to N655/1 traded the previous day. 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
The CBN’s restrictive foreign exchange management policy is having a knock-on effect on the market as increasing pressure is driving down the value of the naira.
According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria’s gross external reserve, as of July 25, stands at $39.31 billion, contracting by $82.6 million (0.2 percent) from the 39.38 billion recorded as of July 22.
Capital Market Update
As of July 26, 2022, the Nigerian equities market closed the trading session on a bearish note as the NGX All Share Index (ASI) dipped by 186basis points (bps) to close at 50442.37. The trading volume was 11,268,061 units, while the value of the stock traded was N 67,336,326.32 for the reporting period.
For sectors under our review, performances were generally bearish as the NGX indices for all the sectors declined. Oil and gas, consumer goods, insurance, banking, and pension closed in the red. The oil and gas index declined by 49 bps, Consumer goods by 127, insurance by 169 bps, banking by 185 bps, while pension, having the highest decline, dropped by 201 bps.
In the Equities segment, AIICO led the top gainers having risen by 3.33 percent. On the other hand, for the top decliners, REGALINS dropped by 7.41 percent. STERLNBANK was the most traded stock by volume and by value.
