Nigeria naira gains 0.04% Wednesday

The Nigerian naira appreciated marginally 0.04 percent to N360.51 against the dollar at the official market Wednesday, May 02, 2018, while it closed flat at N362 in the parallel market.

Total turnover in the I&E FX window improved significantly by 112.49 percent to $362.52 million, traded within the N357-363.50/$ band.

At the fixed income and money market, the overnight lending rate fell by 21 bps to 2.21 percent on improved liquidity and absence of OMO auction. OMO and treasury bills worth N186.68 billion and N190.84 billion will mature into the system on Thursday.

Proceedings in the NTB market were bullish, as average yield decreased by 9 bps to 11.15 percent. The short (-23 bps) and mid (-15 bps) ends of the curve recorded yield contractions, while yield expanded at the long (+11 bps) segment. Notable bills include the 36DTM (-120 bps), 183DTM (-146 bps), and 218DTM (+126 bps) respectively.

At Wednesday’s NTB auction, NGN9.54 billion, NGN47.71 billion, and NGN38.17 billion of the 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day bills were allotted. The bills were 4.22x oversubscribed, with yields closing lower across the 91-day (10.00%; previously 10.90%), 182-day (10.95%; previously 12.00%), and 364-day (11.15%; previously 12.08%) bills.

Sentiments were mixed in the bond market, with average yield closing flat at 12.67%. Yield expanded at the short (+20 bps) end of the curve, following selloff of the JUN-2019 (+125 bps) bond. Conversely, the mid (-18 bps) and long (-8 bps) segments recorded yield contractions, driven by demands for the JAN-2026 (-26 bps) and JUL-2030 (-19 bps) bonds, respectively.