Economy
FMDQ Unveils Rate for Special Forex Window

By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A reference exchange rate for the newly introduced special foreign exchange window for investors and exporters by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been introduced by the Financial Market Dealers Quote (FMDQ).
FMDQ said on Monday that the reference rate would be published 12 noon every day via three packages: live fix available at 12:00 noon daily via the FMDQ e-Markets Portal; delayed (24 hours) published via the FMDQ website; and historical, available via the FMDQ e-Markets Portal.
The newly introduced reference exchange rate is called the Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange Rate Fixing (NAFEX).
Last week, the central bank introduced a special foreign exchange window for investors and exporters aimed to boost liquidity in the foreign exchange market and ensure timely execution and settlement for eligible transactions.
According to FMDQ, NAFEX will NAFEX will “benefit the Nigerian economy in general and the financial industry in particular in a number of ways, including serving as a fixing for the settlement of FX derivatives, promoting transparency and awareness of USD/NGN rates, enabling foreign and local investors benefit from a market-driven independent reference rate and increasing forward contracts usage towards a reduction of investments in currency principals and foreign currency line utilisation.
Other benefits include developing hedge products and derivatives, thus improving the standard of the Nigerian FX market, providing growth and income potentials for market players through the trading of hedging products, and serving as a benchmark for portfolio valuations, conversions, performance measurement and audits.
Explaining the fixing methodology, FMDQ stated that the NAFEX Spot Rates “shall be determined as detailed below and contributing banks shall be expected to submit only ‘professional spot quotes’.
“Where a contributing bank submits an unprofessional quote, such a quote will automatically be disqualified from the NAFEX computation. Contributing banks shall quote single rates for transaction sizes of $5 million and above or as advised by FMDQ, at the time of the poll.”
It stated further that, the polled rate would be based on the “submissions of 10 contributing banks and calculated using a trimmed arithmetic mean.
“Upon receipt of quotes, the individual contributing banks’ submission is ranked in descending order. The lowest and highest two quotes are eliminated from the ranked rates leaving only the middle six rates.
“The arithmetic mean of the remaining rates is then calculated to two decimal places and disseminated as the NAFEX Spot Rate.”
”Where FMDQ receives fewer than the required number of submissions by the time NAFEX is due for publication, the reduced submissions methodology detailed below shall apply:
“NAFEX will be published provided that two (2) or more quotes are obtained on a daily basis
“The calculation methodology shall remain the same irrespective of the number of submissions received. However, under the reduced submissions methodology, the number of submissions excluded on the high and the low side (‘topped and tailed’) shall apply,” it explained further.
FMDQ stated also said, “In instances where there are quotes below the documented threshold, the previous day’s NAFEX shall be maintained and published as the current NAFEX.
“In circumstances of a force majeure event, leading to the unavailability of quotes in the market, the previous day’s NAFEX will be maintained and published as the current NAFEX.
“Any republished rates from the previous business day shall be identified as such on the FMDQ e-Markets Portal.
“After five consecutive business days of republishing the previous day’s NAFEX (in this case, the NAFEX of 5 business days prior), an FMDQ Market Review Committee meeting shall be convened in a special session to devise a strategy for the appropriate determination of future NAFEX during the extreme market condition, towards preserving the continuity of the NAFEX publication.”
Economy
NASD Exchange Extends Bearish Run After 0.56% Drop
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its stay in the south territory with a decline of 0.56 per cent on Wednesday, April 2.
This brought down the market capitalisation by N13 billion to N2.417 trillion from N2.430 trillion, and downed the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 22.57 points to 4,062.87 points from the previous session’s 4,062.87 points.
It was observed that the NASD exchange ended with three price gainers and three price losers during the trading day.
MRS Oil Plc depreciated by N19.00 to close at N171.00 per unit compared with the previous price of N190.00 per unit, NASD Plc lost N4.14 to trade at N37.36 per share compared with Wednesday’s N41.50 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gave up N2.00 to sell at N78.00 per unit versus N80.00 per unit.
On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by 19 Kobo to N93.00 per share from N92.81 per share, Food Concepts Plc expanded by 15 Kobo to N2.87 per unit from N2.72 per unit, and Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc improved by 2 Kobo to 52 Kobo per share from 50 Kobo per share.
Yesterday, the volume of securities dipped by 91.8 per cent to 260.2 million units from 3.2 billion units, the value of securities went down by 98.1 per cent to N154.2 million from N8.3 billion, while the number of deals soared by 53.3 per cent to 46 deals from 30 deals.
GNI Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 56.9 million units valued at N3.9 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.5 million units traded for N1.8 billion.
The most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was also GNI Plc with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.2 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units transacted for N1.2 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,380/$1 at Official Market, Remains N1,405/$1 at Black Market
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira dropped N2.09 or 0.15 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, April 2, to trade at N1,380.79/$1 compared with Wednesday’s rate of N1,378.70/$1.
However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N2.77 to quote at N1,824.86/£1 versus the N1,836.57/£1 it was traded at midweek, and improved its value against the Euro by N10.54 to N1,591.92/€1 from N1,602.46/€1.
Yesterday was the last trading session of the week for the local currency in the spot market, as the market will be closed on Friday and Monday for the Easter Holiday.
At the black market, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the greenback yesterday at N1,405/$1, but gained N8 at the GTBank FX counter to settle at N1,388/$1, in contrast to the previous session’s N1,396/$1.
Pressure eased on the domestic currency as strong policy indicators have helped calm the majority of worries within the financial systems. Particularly in the remittance segment, the apex bank has directed all International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) to route remittance transactions through designated Naira settlement accounts in banks, a move aimed at boosting transparency and channelling more foreign exchange into the formal market.
This helps take off pressure from the foreign reserves, which have fallen below the $50 billion mark as they are gradually decreasing rather than falling sharply.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish on Thursday, as macro sentiment shifted against recent optimism after reports that Iran is drafting a protocol with Oman to manage traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, easing concerns about disruptions to a key global oil route.
The remarks came after U.S. President Trump on Wednesday night vowed to hit Iran “extremely hard” in the coming weeks and that the Strait of Hormuz would “open naturally” once the war ends.
Cardano (ADA) chalked up 1.9 per cent to trade at $0.2435, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 1.2 per cent to $0.0912, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 0.8 per cent to $2,066.37, Bitcoin (BTC) added 0.5 per cent to sell at $67,080.53, Solana (SOL) increased by 0.5 per cent to $79.91, and Ripple (XRP) jumped 0.2 per cent to $1.31.
Conversely, Binance Coin (BNB) dipped 0.7 per cent to $586.90, and TRON (TRX) depreciated by 0.3 per cent to $0.3147, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
Economy
Bulls, Bears Share Customs Street’s Spoils Amid Bullish Investor Sentiment
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market was relatively flat on Friday, as the bears and the bulls shared the spoils of war, though investor sentiment turned bullish compared with the preceding session’s bearish posture.
Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) was marginally down by 4.66 points as it ended at 201,698.89 points versus Wednesday’s 201,703.55 points, and the market capitalisation slightly contracted by N3 billion to N129.806 trillion from N129.809 trillion.
Customs Street was shut on Friday because of the public holidays declared by the federal government today and next Monday.
Business Post reports that John Holt declined by 9.91 per cent to N15.45, Abbey Mortgage Bank shed 9.60 per cent to trade at N8.95, International Energy Insurance slipped by 6.48 per cent to N3.32, Chams shrank by 5.30 per cent to N3.75, and Tantalizers depreciated by 5.18 per cent to N4.03.
On the flip side, Unilever Nigeria improved by 10.00 per cent to N103.40, Fortis Global Insurance gained 9.82 per cent to trade at N1.23, Multiverse appreciated 9.81 per cent to N20.15, Legend Internet advanced by 9.38 per cent to N6.30, and Zichis grew by 9.02 per cent to N14.14.
The market breadth index was positive during the trading session, as there were 35 appreciating stocks and 24 depreciating stocks.
Yesterday, investors traded 560.0 million equities valued at N19.3 billion in 49,676 deals, in contrast to the 815.5 million equities worth N33.3 billion transacted in 52,641 deals in the preceding day, representing a drop in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 31.33 per cent, 42.04 per cent, and 5.63 per cent, respectively.
Secure Electronic Technology dominated the activity log with 59.7 million shares valued at N61.1 million, Wema Bank exchanged 52.0 million equities worth N1.4 billion, VFD Group transacted 36.0 million stocks for N410.5 million, Access Holdings sold 35.3 million shares valued at N914.8 million, and Chams traded 31.0 million equities worth N115.0 million.
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