Thursday, August 4, 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 N428.12/$ implying an uptick of 0.05 percent from the opening price of N428.33 on the same day. On a day-on-day basis, it also rose by 0.11 percent from N429.20/$ recorded as of the close of the trading session the previous day.
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/$ during intra-day trading. According to data from FMDQ, a total of $110.22 million was traded at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) Window for the reporting period, representing a decrease of 11 percent from the $123.78 million traded the previous day. The appreciation in the value of the naira was on the back of the foreign reserve which took an uptick after a downturn of over a week.
In the parallel market, the dollar strengthened against the naira. As of the close of trading yesterday, the naira depreciated to about N635/$ at the parallel (black market), dropping by N10 against the dollar. On a week-on-week basis, the naira appreciated against the dollar by 10.5 percent from N71/$. Trading activities at the B2B market show that the exchange rate closed at about N640/$ for the same period being reported. This is based on the information obtained from BDC operators in Lagos.
Foreign Reserves
The gross external reserve which was relatively stable through June, took a downturn in the later days of July. As at this reporting period, the foreign reserve balance shows a slight increase, however, it has not reached pre-July levels. According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the gross foreign reserve stands at $39.074 billion as of August 3, 2022, rising by $2.1 million (0.005 percent) from $30.071 billion recorded on August 2, 2022.
Capital Market Update
As of August 4, 2022, the Nigerian equities market closed the trading session with the NGX All Share Index (ASI) declining by 3 basis points (bps) to stand at 50582.30. The trading volume was 33,877,639 units, increasing by 37 percent from 24,689,354 units recorded at the end of the previous day’s trading. The total value that exchanged hands was N425,003,000.01, representing a 43 percent increase from the value (N296,530,928.28) at the close of the previous day of trading.
The indices for some sectors under our review increased while others recorded a different performance. Banking, Pension, Consumer Goods, and Insurance recorded a bullish performance as the four indices closed in green. On the other hand, the Oil and Gas Index closed in red. The Banking index having the highest increase, rose by207 basis points (bps), Pension by 73 bps, Consumer Goods by 7 bps, and Insurance by just 4 bps. The Oil and Gas index declined by only 5 bps.
JAPAULGOLD shares led the top gainers as it rose by 9.68 percent, while LEARNAFRCA led the top decliners after dropping by 5.98 percent. GTCO emerged as the most traded stock by volume and also by value as 7,158,511 units of its stock were traded at a value of N146,872,654.70.
