Naira depreciates at I&E window, remains flat at the parallel market, BDC segment

Naira closes weak at I&E window, remains flat at the parallel market, BDC segment 

The value of the Naira last week weakened at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign exchange market (NAFEX), also known as the Investors and Exporters Window (I&E) as the local currency depreciated to N397.17 on Friday from N394.31 which it was on Monday while it remained flat at N480/$ and N477 in the parallel market and the bureau de change market.

During the trading session at the I&E, Nigeria Today News observed that despite a depreciation to N 397.17, there was more demand for FX from customers as the window recorded a turnover of $96.82 from $28.85 recorded on Monday, $71.25 on Tuesday, $52.59 on Wednesday and $47.72 on Thursday.  

At the parallel market, the Naira closed flat as it remained at N480/$, N653/£, and N580/€.

At the Bureau de Change segment, according to the data gathered at the official website of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators (ABCON), the Naira stabilized at N477/$ and N651 and N557 against the pounds sterling and the euro respectively.

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Meanwhile, in the stock market, Proshare reports that “the Nigerian Stock Exchange closed negative for the five trading sessions this week amidst sell pressure as Investor Sentiment on the market remained negative. The equities market closed with a decline of -1.66% as investors lose N367.98bn in Market capitalization W-o-W. YTD return and market capitalization currently stand at +55.39% and N21.82trn.The volume and value of stocks traded on the exchange this week dipped by-28.02% and -15.35% respectively. 

A total turnover of 2.77bn shares worth N29.88bn in 31,380 deals were traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange. The most traded stocks by volume were UBN, FIRSTBANK, and TRANSCORP accounting for 859.87m shares worth N4.25bn in 2,459 deals, contributing 31.08% and 14.32% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.”

Performance across sectors was broadly negative for the week, NSE Insurance was the highest decliner for the week with a loss of -6.01%, NSE Oil & Gas, NSE Banking, NSE Consumer goods, NSE-30, and NSE-IND dipped this week by -0.16%, -2.28%, -3.22%, -1.85% and, -2.07% respectively. Market breadth was negative for the week with 22 gainers led by MCNICHOLS and JAIZBANK as against 60 losers led by LINKASSURE and JAPAULOIL.