By Modupe Gbadeyanka

In the first 10 months of 2024, the aggregate foreign exchange (FX) inflows into Nigeria increased by 41 per cent on a year-on-year basis to $79.8 billion from $55.6 billion in the same period of the preceding year.

This information was revealed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its Economic Report for October 2024.

The apex bank disclosed that in the period under consideration, the nation recorded a 1.4 per cent decline in aggregated FX outflows to $29.84 billion from the $30.29 billion posted in the first 10 months of 2023.

As for the net forex inflows, it rose by 65.7 per cent to $46.92 billion from $28.31 billion in the corresponding period of 2023, with inflows from autonomous sources growing by 0.06 per cent to $35.82 billion from $34.4 billion, outflows from autonomous sources expanding by 195 per cent to $7.08 billion from $2.4 billion, and the net forex inflows from autonomous sources jumped by 73 per cent to $39.7 billion from $22.93 billion.

“Foreign exchange flows through the economy amounted to a net inflow of $4.86 billion, relative to $6.35 billion in September 2024. Aggregate foreign exchange inflow increased to $9.15 billion, from $8.59 billion in the preceding month.

“Similarly, foreign exchange outflow increased to $4.29 billion, from $2.24 billion in the preceding month.

“Foreign exchange inflow through the bank declined to $4.48 billion, from $5.22 billion in the preceding month, while autonomous inflow increased to $4.67 billion, from $3.37 billion in the preceding month.

“Outflow through the bank rose to $3.73 billion, from $1.84 billion, while autonomous outflow fell to $0.56 billion, from $0.40 billion in September 2024.

“Consequently, a net inflow of $4.11 billion was recorded through autonomous sources compared with $2.97 billion in September 2024, while the bank recorded a net inflow of $0.75 billion, relative to $3.38 billion in the preceding month,” parts of the report said.

It was also revealed that the CBN inflows soared by 55 per cent between January 2024 and October 2024 to $32.94 billion from $21.25 billion in the same period of the previous year, as outflows through the central bank shrank by 1.11 per cent to $25.74 billion from $26.03 billion, leaving the net FX inflow up by 556.8 per cent to $7.16 billion from -$1.09 billion.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its presence in the green territory with a 0.07 per cent growth on Tuesday, January 7, spurred by a gain recorded by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc.

At the close of business yesterday, the Nigerian securities depository company increased its share price by 15 Kobo to end at N23.20 per unit compared with the previous day’s N23.05 per unit.

As a result of this, the market capitalisation of the bourse went up by N750 million to finish at N1.056 trillion like the preceding session, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) expanded by 2.18 points to wrap the session at 3,080.29 points compared with 3,080.47 points recorded at the previous session.

The market was relatively quiet on Tuesday as investors reconsidered their exposure to unlisted securities, with the volume of transactions declining by 96.8 per cent to 59,432 units from the 1.8 million units achieved a day earlier.

In the same vein, the value of trades recorded yesterday decreased by 89.9 per cent to N2.1 million from N20.7 million, and the number of deals slumped by 79.3 per cent to six deals from 29 deals.

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc ended the session as the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 1.9 million units worth N74.2 million, trailed by 11 Plc with 12,963 units valued at N3.2 million, and Industrial and General Insurance  (IGI )Plc with 10.7 million units sold for N2.1 million.

IGI Plc finished the trading session as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 10.6 million units valued at N2.1 million, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 1.9 million units sold for at N74.2 million, and Acorn Petroleum Plc with 1.2 million units worth N1.9 million.

By Adedapo Adesanya

It was a bad day for the Nigerian Naira in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Tuesday, January 7 as its value weakened further by 0.03 per cent or 45 Kobo to trade at N1,537.03/$1, in contrast to the preceding day’s N1,536.58/$1.

Equally, the domestic currency depreciated against the British Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N21.60 to wrap the session at N1,924.15/£1 compared with Monday’s closing price of N1,902.55/£1 and against the Euro, it lost N15.55 to quote at N1,595.07/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,579.52/€1.

However, in the black market, the Naira traded flat against the US Dollar during the trading session at N1,655/$1 as the spot market battles fresh FX demand pressure.

Meanwhile, ihe cryptocurrency market was largely negative as two stronger-than-expected US economic data placed pressure on digital assets’ bright early-year momentum.

Job openings for November unexpectedly rose to 8.1 million from 7.8 million the previous month, easily topping analyst estimates for a decline to 7.7 million while the ISM Services Purchasing Managers Index, a monthly gauge of the level of economic activity in the services sector, came in at 54.1 for December, overshooting expectations for 53.3 and nicely ahead of November’s 52.1.

Market analysts noted that combined together, both data shook up an already jittery market.

The biggest loser was Dogecoin (DOGE), which recorded a value depreciation of 11.6 per cent to sell at $11.6, Cardano (ADA) slid by 10.9 per cent to trade at $0.9768, Litecoin (LTC) tumbled by 10.1 per cent to $101.89, and Solana (SOL) slumped by 10.0 per cent to finish at $194.73.

Further, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 9.5 per cent to close at $3,321.85, Ripple (XRP) dropped 6.4 per cent to sell at $2.29, Bitcoin (BTC) recorded a 6.1 per cent fall to trade at $95,647.42, and Binance Coin (BNB) depreciated by 6.0 per cent to $95,647.42, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained stable at $1.00 flat.