Naira slips on FX scarcity as T-bills, bonds show mixed performance
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November 3, 2021321 views0 comments
Market participants in the investors’ and exporters’ segment of the foreign exchange market kept their bids at between N404 per dollar and N444 per dollar due to high demand for the greenback across various segments of the currency market resulting from dollar scarcity.
On the back of that, the local currency (Naira) lost strength against the greenback by 0.02 percent day on day as the dollar was quoted at N415.07 as against the last close of N414.98 at the start of November.
In the money market, Overnight (O/N) rate fell by 7.75 percent to close at 5.25 percent as against the last close of 13 percent, and the Open Buy Back (OBB) rate also dropped by 7.75 percent to close at 4.75 percent compared to 12.50 percent on the previous day.
In the Nigerian treasury bills secondary market, it was a negative close on Tuesday with the average yield across the curve rising three basis points to close at 5.37 percent from 5.34 percent recorded on the previous day.
Also, the average yield across the long-term maturities expanded by five basis points; but, the average yields across short-term and medium-term maturities remained unchanged at 3.98 percent and 4.53 percent, respectively.
However, yields on four bills advanced with the 25-Aug-22 maturity bill recording the highest yield increase of 16 basis points, while yields on 17 bills remained unchanged.
In the OMO bills market, the average yield across the curve closed flat at 6.08 percent while the average yields across short-term, medium-term, and long-term maturities closed flat at 6.05 percent, 5.84 percent, and 6.97 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, the FGN bonds secondary market closed on a mildly positive note on Tuesday as the average bond yield across the curve cleared lower by one basis point to close at 8.30 percent from 8.31 percent on the previous day. Average yields across the short tenor, medium tenor, and long tenor of the curve fell by one basis point, one basis point, and six basis points, respectively.
The best performer for the day was the 24-JUL-2045 maturity bond with a decrease in the yield of 54 basis points, while the 26-APR-2049 maturity bond was the worst performer with an increase in yield of 13 basis points.