Ahead of MPC report, CBN intensifies FX supply, stocks slid

Ahead of the outcome of the ongoing Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Abuja, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday, injected over $205m in to the foreign exchange market.

A breakdown of what market watchers termed as another massive intervention indicated that the sum of $100m was released for the wholesale segment of the market for both spots and forwards.

Also, Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) which comes under invisibles segment garnered $50 million while the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SME) segment got $55m.

Meanwhile, the exchange rate convergence expectation of the CBN is fast being attained with the Naira exchange rate hovering between N375 and N385 to the Dollar.

The Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department at the CBN, Isaac Okorafor told reporters in Abuja that the Investors and Exporters segment of the market had so far recorded a trade volume in the sum of $1.1bn from both the CBN and autonomous windows which according to him, was an indication of the appreciable level of confidence in the foreign exchange management by foreign investors and autonomous suppliers of foreign exchange to the market.

Meanwhile, equity market of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) started the week on a bearish note after loosing a marginal N12bn to close the market capitalization at N9,706tr.

The NSE All Share Index (ASI) depreciated by -0.12% to close at 28,078.30 basis points, as against +0.04% appreciation recorded previously. Its Year-to-Date (YTD) returns currently stands at +4.48%.