Economy
Trade the Other Way Around: Why Mobile Apps Are Lagging Behind Desktop Terminals in Nigeria
Today, Nigeria’s economic landscape is sparking a revolution in the digital sphere, unfolding right before our eyes. Candidly, without seeing a bigger picture or grasping technical intricacies, even experienced Nigerian traders may get nowhere, lost in the jungle of algorithms. Thus, old-school investment methods are slowly giving way to progressive patterns, with leading-edge trading tools along the way.
Amidst macroeconomic reforms by the Central Bank, skyrocketing volatility of the national currency, and structural changes in the corporate sector, the local financial community is actively pursuing different possibilities to diversify and secure capital. In the sea of choices, retail algorithmic trading has become a leading option across Nigeria. To guarantee peace of mind, download mt4 for pc to lock in profits on your trade.
Mobile Trading in Nigeria: When Accessibility Harms Efficiency
For decades, the market was dominated by the trend of widespread financial “mobilization” on the go. Smartphones opened the windows to the world of trade, offering free access to international markets to new participants across Africa. Despite this fact, Nigeria’s professional community is facing another unforeseeable storm, as hardware restrictions in mobile infrastructure are directly diminishing profitability of retail investors.
In pursuit of milliseconds, accuracy, and stability, Nigerian traders are returning en masse to habitual computer architecture. Of course, smartphones are still a good option for passive investing, long-term planning, or periodic portfolio monitoring, but when it comes to active intraday trading or running automated trading advisors (EAs), mobile operating systems exhibit critical shortcomings. Let’s check the reasons for that.
First and foremost, phones are always about limited multithreading. The thing is, mobile processors are optimized for energy conservation and overheating prevention, but not for the arduous mathematical calculations to process a dense data stream. The second weakness is signal latency. Wireless networks, despite their continuing development of infrastructure in major hubs like Lagos and Abuja, are massively prone to packet loss and ping instability during peak periods, making them a poor choice for high-frequency trading.
For a trader dealing with the dynamic Nigerian market, even a millisecond of delay in order execution can turn into a lost opportunity. This is why true experts go for installing specialized software on their PCs, choosing a classic desktop terminal over a laptop or a smartphone.
Dominance of PC Platforms in the Age of Automation
Many perceive the transition to the desktop version of the trading platforms as a throwback to the past. To avoid confusion, a comprehensive analysis is required to professionalize the regional market. Nowadays, a PC running a reliable software system offers perks like system resource updates and a heightened level of interaction, among others.
The main advantage for traders in Nigeria lies in the possibility of backtesting and optimization. Backtesting a strategy on extensive historical data, taking into account floating spreads and real tick volume, requires colossal computing power. A desktop platform fully utilizes all the cores of a PC’s processor, allowing it to process thousands of parameter combinations within minutes—a feature impossible on a mobile device.
Another critical aspect for the Nigerian region is the unbroken connectivity via virtual private servers (VPSs). Even expert traders prove powerless when having to cope with power supply problems and internet service outages. Working on the desktop version, on the contrary, allows for seamless integration of the trading terminal with a remote server in proximity to liquidity providers’ data centers in London or Frankfurt. This way, traders can manage the process from their home workstations, but the trades themselves are executed remotely with minimal latency.
Finally, ergonomics and visual control can’t be dismissed. Technical market analysis is supposed to simultaneously monitor multiple timeframes and correlated instruments, such as the dollar index, commodity prices, and gold. Desktop platforms are robust enough to deploy complex workspaces across disparate monitors, with each chart equipped with dozens of indicators, analytical panels, and graphical elements. As well, this feature is physically impossible to accommodate comfortably on a standard smartphone screen.
A New Paradigm for Nigerian Investors
Nigeria’s contemporary financial sector is in anticipation of maturity and a systematic approach from its participants. The era when trading was perceived solely as an effortless way to make cash with a single click is irrevocably gone. Trading in Nigeria has established itself as a full-fledged technology-driven business in search of a trustworthy and fault-tolerant infrastructure.
Ultimately, the integration of automated scripts, thorough analysis of market microstructure, and rigorous risk management is possible only with desktop computing power. For traders seeking to safeguard their capital amid sweeping changes, top-notch PC software is becoming a competitive edge. Building a profound foundation, going with a reputable broker, and deploying a professional terminal on your computer, allows you to control your trading operations with absolute precision.
By Adedapo Adesanya
NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange remained in the negative territory after it further depreciated by 0.64 per cent on Friday, July 24, despite recording four price gainers.
The NASD Security Index (NSI) dropped 27.4 points at the close of business to settle at 4,294.75 points versus the previous day’s 4,383.48 points, while the market capitalisation gave up N16.49 billion to end at N2.577 trillion, in contrast to the N2.594 trillion it ended a day earlier.
The bourse was down during the session amid heavy sell-offs, with the volume of transactions skyrocketing by 693.9 per cent to 2.99 million units from Thursday’s 377,635 units.
Equally, the value of trades went up by 71.6 per cent to N69.4 million from N40.4 million, and the number of deals increased by 41.0 per cent to 55 deals from the preceding day’s 39 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 75.6 million units traded for N5.4 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
The market ended the session with four price gainers and two price losers, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which lost N7.44 to trade at N136.19 per share compared with the previous day’s N143.63 per share, and CSCS Plc, which declined by N1.64 to N93.63 per unit from N95.27 per unit.
But MRS Oil gained N13.50 to sell at N148.50 per share versus N135.00 per share, Afriland Properties Plc advanced by 56 Kobo to N17.41 per unit from N16.85 per unit, UBN Property Plc surged by 18 Kobo to N1.93 per share from N1.75 per share, and Food Concepts Plc climbed by 1 Kobo to N2.50 per unit from N2.49 per unit.
By Dipo Olowookere
Nigeria’s stock exchange succumbed to profit-taking on Friday, losing 0.19 per cent when the closing gong was hit at 4 pm.
Shares in the banking and energy sectors influenced the decline suffered by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited during the session, as they respectively closed lower by 0.40 per cent and 0.04 per cent.
The industrial goods index was flat yesterday, while the insurance counter gained 0.68 per cent and the consumer goods space chalked up 0.25 per cent. The gains by these two segments could not keep Customs Street in the green territory at the close of business.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) retreated by 474.00 points to 247,357.40 points from 247,831.40 points, and the market capitalisation decreased by N306 billion to N159.588 trillion from N159.894 trillion.
Presco dropped 10.00 per cent during the trading day to close at N2,070.00, Thomas Wyatt crumbled by 9.93 per cent to N3.63, Trans-Nationwide Express plunged by 8.44 per cent to N2.82, Royal Exchange slipped by 7.86 per cent to N1.29, and LivingTrust Mortgage Bank shrank by 7.32 per cent to N3.80.
On the flip side, C&I Leasing improved by 9.48 per cent to N6.35, Cornerstone Insurance rose by 9.09 per cent to N6.00, RT Briscoe jumped by 8.61 per cent to N13.25, Honeywell Flour expanded by 7.38 per cent to N17.45, and Africa Prudential increased by 6.98 per cent to N13.80.
Despite the poor performance, the local bourse recorded a positive market breadth index after finishing with 35 price gainers and 25 price losers, representing strong investor sentiment.
It was a relatively quiet market on Friday, as the activity level dropped, with the trading volume down by 27.72 per cent to 565.5 million units from 782.4 million units, and the trading value contracted by 46.89 per cent to N29.9 billion from N56.3 billion, while the number of deals executed by investors soared by 16.03 per cent to 53,688 deals from 46,273 deals.
Access Holdings was the busiest stock for the session, with a turnover of 128.0 million units sold for N3.8 billion, First Holdco transacted 35.4 million units worth N4.3 billion, Chams exchanged 34.8 million units valued at N154.3 million, Zenith Bank traded 30.4 million units for N3.9 billion, and UBA sold 30.4 million units worth N1.5 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira marked a whole week of appreciation against the United States Dollar on Friday, July 24, further gaining N5.67 or 0.41 per cent to close at N1,362.09/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) compared with N1,367.76/$1 it ended on Thursday.
Equally, the local currency appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market yesterday by N10.83 to trade at N1,813.62/£1 versus the preceding day’s N1,824.45/£1, and improved against the Euro by N7.68 to settle at N1,549.10/€1, in contrast to the N1,556.78/€1 it was exchanged a day earlier.
However, at the parallel market and GTBank forex counter, the Nigerian currency remained unchanged against the greenback during the session at N1,400/$1 and N1,379/$1, respectively.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) buffer has been strengthened with sustained foreign portfolio inflows and robust foreign reserves, which stand above $52 billion.
The apex bank’s policy signals that the Naira will be stronger in the near term, with Nigeria clearing hurdles with FX reforms and settlement of all backlogs.
However, some traders expect that pressure may come due to foreign-currency buying from fuel importers as they make Dollar purchases to build inventories.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC), in the digital currency landscape, trimmed recent gains as it fell by 2.3 per cent to $63,787.73.
The weak action in the AI momentum trade is feeding through to crypto as well.
Further, Cardano (ADA) dropped 3.7 per cent to close at $0.1615, Solana (SOL) dipped by 2.8 per cent to $73.71, Ripple (XRP) crashed by 2.3 per cent to $1.08, Ethereum (ETH) slid by 1.9 per cent to $1,851.58, Dogecoin (DOGE) retreated by 0.8 per cent to $0.0694, Binance Coin (BNB) contracted by 0.7 per cent to $564.18, and TRON (TRX) lost 0.5 per cent to trade at $0.3292, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
