Naira firms vs dollar in 1-mth forward as capital market indicators improve by 0.45%

Nigeria’s naira strengthened 1 percent against the dollar on Monday in the forward market after the country’s central bank raised interest rates by 100 basis points to 12 percent.

One-month dollar/naira forwards were bid at 205 after the rate rise compared to around 207 earlier

Meanwhile the market indices of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday appreciated further by 0.45 per cent amid price growth by some blue chips.

Naija247news reports that the All-Share Index improved by 117.37 points or 0.45 per cent to close at 26,020.32 against 25,902.95 recorded on Monday.

Similarly, the market capitalisation which opened at N8.910 trillion rose by N40 billion or 0.45 per cent to close at N8.950 trillion.

An analysis of the price movement chart indicated that Nestle led the gainers’ table, growing by N22 to close at N702 per share.

Nigerian Breweries came second with a gain of N5.20 to close at N109.20, while Guinness appreciated by N4.01 to close at N112 per share.

Unilever increased by N1.47 to close at N38.92, while UACN gained 47k to close at N20.95 per share.

Conversely, Seplat topped the laggards’ chart, dropping by N30 to close at N310 per share.

PZ trailed with a loss of N1.13 to close at N21.71 and National Salt Company of Nigeria shed 36k to close at N6.86 per share.

Zenith Bank dropped 29k to close at N12.90, while UAC Property declined by 25k to close at N4.85 per share.

Also, investors bought and sold 344.12 million shares valued at N2.46 billion achieved in 4,386 deals.

NAN reports that this was in contrast with 412.47 million shares worth N2.07 billion traded in 3,285 deals on Monday.

GT Bank was investor’s delight having accounted for 69.62 million shares worth N1.14 billion.

It was followed by Fidelity Bank with 53.32 million valued at N71.04 million, while UBA traded 32.64 million shares worth N121.14 million.

Zenith Bank sold 32.34 million shares valued at N424.99 million and Multitrex exchanged 30 million shares worth N15 million.