FMDQ FX market turnover records $445.6m in five days

FMDQ Securities Exchange has posted a total turnover of $445.58 million in its foreign exchange (FX) spot and derivatives markets segment for the week ended September 8, 2023.

The figure represents a decrease of 19.2 per cent ($105.90 million) from $551.48 million reported for the week ended September 1, 2023. According to the exchange, the week-on-week (WoW) decrease in total turnover was driven by the 19.25 per cent ($106.01 million) decrease in FX spot turnover, despite the 15.28 per cent ($0.11 million) increase in FX derivatives turnover.

The WoW increase in Forex derivatives turnover was solely driven by the 15.28 per cent ($0.11 million) increase in forex forwards turnover, while there was a sustained lack of activity in both Exchange Traded FX Futures and Naira-Settled OTC FX Futures markets.

Also, in the FX Spot market, the total value of transactions for the week ended September 8, 2023, was $444.75 million, representing a decrease of 19.25 per cent ($106.01 million) from the value of transactions executed in the week ended September 1, 2023 ($550.76 million)

The exchange noted that there were no trades executed in the Exchange-Traded FX Futures & extant Naira-Settled OTC FX Futures markets for the week ended September 8, 2023.

For the week ended September 8, 2023, the average Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Fixing (NAFEX) rate was $/₦772.13, compared to ₦772.07 recorded in the week ended September 1, 2023, representing a depreciation of the Naira against the dollar by 0.01 per cent ($/₦0.06).

On the bond market, there was a notable inclination toward selling interest in both mid and long-term maturities in the FGN Bonds market. Analysts stated that the upswing in selling momentum found reinforcement following the NTB auction settlement and Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) debit which mopped up excess system liquidity. The average benchmark yield encountered an uptick of 12 bps, culminating in a closing rate of 14.31 per cent when compared to the previous week.