The Naira at the foreign exchange market closed on Monday at N1,533.85 against the dollar from N1,535.50 it closed last week.
This means the local currency depreciated against the dollar by 0.11per cent at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) window.
The naira last week appreciatedby 1.2per cent in its Week-on-week (w/w) to N1,520.00 against the dollar, supported by supply from Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) looking to participate in the OMO PMA.
Analysts at Cordros Research maintained optimism on the naira as foreign exchange liquidity is poised to remain robust.
“Still elevated yields particularly in the OMO market as well as a weaker dollar are expected to continue to drive FX inflows from FPIs to the FX market in the near term.
“We also believe the stronger market confidence and low incentives for naira speculation will continue to contribute to robust inflows from local sources,” the firm said in a report.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian equities market began the trading week in the positive territory as buy interest in Dangote Cement Plc and 46 others pushed the market capitalization up by N1.78 trillion.
The All-Share Index (ASI) gained 2,808.73 points, representing a gain of 1.99 per cent to close at 144,071.78 points. Also, market capitalisation rose by N1.78 billion to close at N91.150 trillion.
The upturn was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are; Dangote Cement, BUA Foods, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO), UACN and BUA Cement.
Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth closed positive as 47 stocks advanced, while 23 declined. Lasaco Assurance, Royal Exchange and UPDC emerged the highest price gainer of 10 per cent each to close at N2.86, N1.65 and 54 kobo respectively, per share.
UACN followed with a gain of 9.97 per cent to close at N97.10, while Sovereign Trust Insurance rose by 9.94 per cent to close at N1.88, per share.
On the other side, Academy Press and Transcorp Power led the losers’ chart with 10 per cent each to close at N9.90 and N288.00 respectively, while John Holts followed with a decline of 9.59 per cent to close at N6.60, per share.
TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria declined by 9.22 per cent to close at N640.00, while Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) dipped by 9.21 per cent to close at N9.21, per share.
However, the total volume traded fell by 24.8 per cent to 811.096 million units, valued at N19.472 billion, and exchanged in 35,963 deals. Transactions in the shares of FCMB Group led the activity with 84.949 million shares worth N979.416 million. Universal Insurance followed with account of 82.512 million shares valued at N61.682 million, while Fidelity Bank traded 45.429 million shares valued at N955.598 million.
AIICO Insurance traded 40.149 million shares worth N94.292 million, while Veritas Kapital Assurance traded 39.770 million shares worth N60.257 million.
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