Naira Remains Weak, Exchanges for N436.33/$1 at the I&E Window

Friday, September 9, 2022: The exchange rate at the Nigerian Investors and Exporters (I&E) FX Window remains weak as the naira maintains a record-low position with the dollar. As of the beginning of the day’s trading, the naira exchanged for N433.83 with a dollar. As trading progressed, it dropped to 436.33, losing 0.6 percent to the greenback. This depreciation was despite the market’s 76 percent increase in forex supply.
 
Historic data compiled by Rate Captain from FMDQ Exchange shows that the naira dropped on a week-on-week basis, losing 1.12 percent to the dollar. Similarly, on a month-on-month basis, the naira has depreciated by 1.6 percent against the dollar. 
 
An exchange rate of N437/$ was the highest rate recorded during the intra-day trading before it settled at N436.33/$1 at the end of the trading session, while it also traded as low as 425/$ during intra-day trading. According to data from FMDQ, a total of $66.02 million was traded at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) Window on Tuesday, representing a $28.52 million increase from the $37.50 million traded the previous day. 
 
Trading activities at the parallel (black) market show that the naira depreciated against the dollar as it closed at about N705/$, slipping by 0.28 percent from the previous day’s closing price of N703. On a week-on-week basis, the naira depreciated 0.7 percent against the dollar. Trading activities at the B2B market show that the exchange rate depreciated, having closed at about N708/$ for the same period being reported. This is based on the information obtained from forex marketers in Lagos.
 
Foreign Reserves
Nigeria’s foreign reserve has been on a downturn since the beginning of this month. According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the gross foreign reserve declined to $38.915 billion as of September 7, 2022, decreasing by $765 thousand (0.02 percent) from $38.916 billion recorded on September 6, 2022.
 
Capital Market Update
As of September 9, 2022, the Nigerian equities market closed the trading session with the NGX All Share Index (ASI) increasing by 9 basis points (bps) to close at 49695.12. The trading volume was 2,974,992 units, decreasing by 97 percent from 103,025,089 units recorded at the end of the previous day’s trading. The total value that exchanged hands was N13,943,122.74, representing a 99 percent decrease from the value (N1,239,840,732.55) at the close of the previous day of trading.
Pen 0.37 ban 0.87 con 0.06 oil -0.16 ins o.44 
 
Four of the sectors under our purview recorded a positive performance as their indices closed green, while that of the last sector closed red. The Banking index, having the highest increase, went up by 87bps, Insurance by 44bps, Pension by 37bps, and Consumer Goods by 6bps. On the other hand, the Oil and Gas index decreased by 16bps.