04 April 2017, Sweetcrude, Lagos — The local and international financial markets products and services update.
NIGERIA: The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday injected an additional $240 million into the foreign exchange (FX) market.
A breakdown of the intervention by the central bank showed that $90 million was sold directly to banks to meet the requests for retail invisibles while $150 million was also offered to authorised FX dealers through the interbank wholesale auction window.
CBN spokesman, Mr. Isaac Okorafor confirmed the figures, disclosing that the CBN also adjusted its earlier pronouncement that Bureau de Change (BDC) operators would get dollars twice a week to Tuesdays only. He explained that the adjustment was to reduce logistical difficulties.
FX: Naira continued to depreciate against the dollar at the start of this week following after last week’s sentiment driven corrections. The CBN announced its FX auction yesterday; the first for the week.
FIXED INCOME: Quiet start of the week. Bond market attempted to rally but the demand was weak. Street is still on the sidelines until the bond calendar provides some guidance. Bill market activities remain muted with only a few inquiries from buy side clients. Bill auction on Wednesday – on offer is N45.17bn 19day, N23.43bn 182 day and N82bn 364 day bills.
U.S: The world will have a better idea by the end of this week, but probably no definitive answer, on whether the U.S. economy’s boom in “soft” data is being reflected in the “hard” stuff.
This week’s economic data include trade figures and factory orders, culminating in a payrolls report Friday forecast to show 175,000 jobs added by U.S. employers in March. An Institute for Supply Management survey on Monday indicated manufacturers continued to expand at a robust pace in March. That followed Friday’s tepid figures on February consumer spending, suggesting that the largest part of the economy could limit broader expansion, at least in the first quarter.
The gap between soft data on confidence and other surveys that capture the optimism of the moment and expectations for policy, and hard data such as consumer spending that show actual performance, has been a hallmark of the economy this year.
U.K: U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May must commission and publish a “thorough assessment” of the consequences of Britain walking away from the European Union without a deal, a cross-party panel of lawmakers said on Tuesday.
The premier’s assertion that “no deal is better than a bad deal” is unsubstantiated and failure to reach an agreement would damage both the U.K. and the EU, the House of Commons Brexit committee said in a report which split its members. Six of the 16 lawmakers present when it was finalized voted for it not to be published.
COMMODITIES: Oil’s rally above $50 a barrel is running out of steam after Libyan production returns, bringing the focus back to OPEC.
Futures in New York extended losses after dropping 0.7% on Monday, following a 5.5% jump last week. While OPEC output fell by 200,000barrels a day in March, the decline was helped by cuts in Nigeria and Libya that are exempt from its production-curb deal to shrink a global glut, a Bloomberg News survey shows. Libya was said to resume pumping at its biggest field after about a week of disruption that had helped boost prices.
Macro Economic Indicators
Inflation rate (Y-o-Y) for February 2017, 17.78%
Monetary Policy Rate current 14.00%
FX Reserves (Bn $) as at Mar 30, 2017, 30.297
Money Market Highlights
NIBOR (%)
O/N 11.7083
30 Day 16.7221
90 Day 20.9258
180 Day 23.2750
LIBOR (%)
USD 1 Month 0.95111
USD 2 Months 1.02500
USD 3 Months 1.14956
USD 6 Months 1.42322
USD 12 Months 1.72400
Benchmark yields
Tenor Maturity Yield (%)
91d 22-Jun-17 19.01
182d 21-Sep-17 20.16
364d 22-Mar-18 22.47
2y 29-Jun-19 15.80
3y 13-Feb-20 15.77
5y 15-Jul-21 15.90
Indicative Currency Exchange Rates
Bid Offer
USDNGN 314.50 315.00
EURUSD 1.0553 1.0755
GBPUSD 1.2419 1.2621
USDJPY 111.36 111.39
USDCHF 0.99795 1.0081
GBPEUR 1.1649 1.1853
USDZAR 13.4972 13.7006
JPYNGN 2.6997 2.8003
CHFNGN 304.86 306.55