Naira depreciates by 5.4% at I&E FX window to N702.19/$

The naira depreciated against the dollar at the Investors & Exporters (I & E FX) window on Thursday over high demand.

The naira depreciated by 5.4per cent to N702.19 against the dollar, down from N664.04 against the dollar it traded on Wednesday.

However, the Nigerian equities market on Thursday experienced a bearish turn after two consecutive days of bullish momentum with N430 billion loss, following new inflation statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), that indicated further price pressures in May.

The All Share Index (ASI) was down by 789.89 points, representing a loss of 1.32 per cent to close at 59,195.21 points. Also, market capitalisation declined by N430 billion to close at N32.232 trillion.

The downtrend was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN), Nigerian Breweries, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), Zenith Bank and Access Holdings.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative, as 40 stocks lost relative to 36 gainers. MRS Oil Nigeria, TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria and Transcorp Hotel recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at N68.75, N336.70 and 13.31 respectively, per share.

Ikeja Hotel followed with a gain of 9.97 per cent to close at N3.31, while E-Tranzact International rose by 9.92 per cent to close at N5.32 per share.

On the other hand, SUNU Assurance led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent, to close at 45 kobo per share. Cornerstone Insurance followed with a decline of 9.73 per cent to close at N1.02, while McNichols Consolidated declined by 9.33 per cent to close at 68 kobo per share.

Access Holdings depreciated by 9.24 per cent to close at N14.25, while RT Briscoe Nigeria declined by 8.82 per cent to close at 31 kobo per share.

The total volume of trade declined by 9.8 per cent to 1.170 billion units, valued at N15.359 billion, and exchanged in 12,611 deals.

Transactions in the shares of United Bank for Africa (UBA) topped the activity chart with 192.833 million shares valued at N2.345 billion. Access Holdings followed with 121.538 million shares worth N1.962 billion, while Fidelity Bank traded 102.639 million shares valued at N726.741 million.

GTCO traded 99.848 million shares valued at N3.326 billion, while Sterling Financial Holdings Company sold 79.278 million shares worth N238.315 million.