Economy
ABCON Blames FX Speculators for ‘Forceful Devaluation of Naira’
By Dipo Olowookere
Recently, the value of the Naira compared with the United States Dollar at the parallel segment of the foreign exchange (FX) market has been poor.
Last week, the Nigerian weakened to N484/$1. It only appreciated by N1 on Monday to trade at N483/$1 and as press time, it was still stable at that rate.
The issue caused panic last week and the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has blamed this on forex speculators, who it said would soon regret their actions.
President of the group, Mr Aminu Gwadabe, in a statement, said these ‘economic sabotage’ were frustrating the efforts of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to bring sanity to the system.
According to him, the apex bank has the capacity to defend the local currency because of the robust external reserves, which presently stand at nearly $36 billion.
He warned that if these speculators refuse to back down, they stand the risk of losing their funds because the CBN will continue to defend the Naira and close the widening gaps between official and parallel market rates.
ABCON described these elements as enemies of the economy forcing the Naira to depreciate through speculative activities, threatening that they would be punished.
The organisation applauded the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, for his initiatives aimed at achieving exchange rate stability by ensuring that foreign currencies were made available to manufacturers and end-users, who needed the funds for their medical trips, school fees payment, travel allowances among others.
He noted that the funding of BDC operators has also helped to deepen the forex market and reduce the level of scarcity that always form the basis for speculative activities.
“I think that the CBN by pushing the official foreign exchange rate from N306 to N379 to the dollar is in line with market demand.
“It has also helped to narrow the official-parallel market rates gap that formed the basis of ridiculous speculations among unpatriotic forex dealers and spectators,” Mr Gwadabe said, advising the federal government to enhance security surveillance at the nation’s borders to checkmate illegal foreign currency cash transactions.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose further by 1.02 per cent on Tuesday, May 13, buoying the market capitalisation by N19.77 billion to close at N1.967 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.947 trillion.
In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went up by 33.77 points to finish at 3,359.79 points, in contrast to the 3,326.06 points reported a day earlier.
Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc increased during the trading session by N2.35 to N27.20 per share from N24.85 per share, NASD Plc added N1.90 to close at N20.90 per unit compared with the previous day’s N19.00 per unit, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained 87 Kobo to close at N41.30 per share versus the previous closing value of N40.43 per share, Mixta Real Estate Plc climbed higher by 51 Kobo to end at N5.51 per unit compared with Monday’s price of N5.00 per unit, and AG Mortgage Bank Plc appreciated by 5 Kobo to settle at 58 Kobo per share, in contrast to the preceding session’s 53 Kobo per share.
The level of activity was higher yesterday, with the volume of securities transacted going up by 61,474.7 per cent to 414.5 million units from the 673,233 units traded in the previous trading day, the value of trades jumped by 16,714.4 per cent to N1.05 billion from N6.3 million, but the number of deals fell by 28.6 per cent to 25 deals from 35 deals.
Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 536.9 million units worth N524.7 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 266.3 million units sold for N470.5 million, and Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units valued at N4.9 billion.
Okitipupa Plc also remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 153.6 million units sold for N4.9 billion, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 20.2 million units valued at N770.6 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units worth N524.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated further against the US Dollar by 28 Kobo or 0.02 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, May 13.
Data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that the exchange rate closed yesterday at N1600.01/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,609.29/$1.
This occurred as the market finds some direction amid clarity in recent uncertainties, which had threatened the stability of the global markets.
Efforts to keep stabilising the FX market is also keeping the value of the Naira from fluctuating heavily.
However, the domestic currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling at the spot market during the session by N4.26 to trade at N2,118.28/£1 versus Monday’s rate of N2,114.02/£1 and lost N3.06 on the Euro to finish at N1,783.87/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,780.81/€1.
In the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira remained unchanged against the Dollar at N1,630/$1 on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish yesterday as US inflation was slightly lower than expected in April after President Donald Trump’s tariffs just began hitting the slowing US economy, according to the country’s labour office report on Tuesday.
The consumer price index, which measures the costs for a broad range of goods and services, rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2 per cent for the month, putting the 12-month inflation rate at 2.3 per cent, its lowest since February 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
While the April CPI figures were relatively tame, the Trump tariffs remain a wild card in the inflation picture, depending on where negotiations go from now till the deadline.
According to market analysts, this is a temporary arrangement and volatility will likely return as the 90-day window approaches its end.
Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 10.4 per cent to sell at $0.2457, Ethereum (ETH) rose by 9.2 per cent to $2,673.65, Solana (SOL) expanded by 7.7 per cent to $182.73, Cardano (ADA) added 5.6 per cent to trade at $0.8297, Ripple (XRP) increased by 4.1 per cent to $2.58, Litecoin (LTC) grew by 2.7 per cent to $104.35, Binance Coin (BNB) climbed higher by 2.5 per cent to $663.60, and Bitcoin (BTC) moved up by 1.4 per cent to $103,857.30, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
The loss recorded by Customs Street on Monday was reversed on Tuesday after closing higher by 0.46 per cent due to renewed buying interest from investors.
Almost all the key sectors of the bourse ended in green during the trading session except the commodity index, which closed flat.
The consumer goods counter expanded by 1.70 per cent, the insurance space grew by 0.88 per cent, the energy sector increased by 0.83 per cent, the banking industry improved by 0.20 per cent, and the industrial goods sector advanced by 0.13 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 501.13 points to 108,762.60 points from the 108,261.47 points recorded a day earlier, and the market capitalisation gained N315 billion to settle at N68.358 trillion compared with the previous day’s N68.043 trillion.
A total of 40 stocks ended on the price gainers’ chart of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited during the trading day and 24 stocks finished on the losers’ chart, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Chellarams grew by 10.00 per cent to sell for N11.44, Oando also chalked up 10.00 per cent to close at N49.50, Transcorp rose by 9.99 per cent to N46.25, Beta Glass jumped by 9.96 per cent to N194.30, and Caverton flew by 9.85 per cent to N3.68.
On the flip side, Haldane McCall lost 9.85 per cent to finish at N4.21, Academy Press declined by 7.33 per cent to N4.30, UPDC weakened by 6.25 per cent to N3.00, ABC Transport crashed by 6.13 per cent to N2.91, and NPF Microfinance Bank retreated by 5.14 per cent to N2.03.
The demand for Nigerian stocks was higher on Tuesday, resulting in the rise in the trading volume by 21.62 per cent to 498.5 million shares from the 409.9 million shares transacted a day earlier.
Similarly, the trading value increased by 1.89 per cent to N10.8 billion from N10.6 billion, while the number of deals decreased by 9.28 per cent to 14,916 deals from 16,441 deals.
Tantalizers was the busiest equity for the day with a turnover of 57.8 million units valued at N131.3 million, Access Holdings transacted 36.8 million units worth N784.4 million, GTCO exchanged 31.8 million units for N2.2 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 23.4 million units worth N470,5 million, and Nigerian Breweries sold 21.0 million units valued at N1.1 billion.
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