Naira untouched as stocks, crude oil record losses

The naira remained stable on Tuesday despite losses recorded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and global crude oil market.

The naira appreciated against the dollar to exchange at N361/$ against Monday’s exchange price of N363 to the dollar.

The gain can be attributed to weekly interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to make forex available to various segments of the market.

On Monday, the CBN injected $210 million into the foreign exchange market.

In contrast, market capitalisation on the Nigerian Stock Exchange dropped by N68.9 billion to stand at N15.47 trillion.

The same was recorded on the global crude oil market. Brent crude, the international benchmark of crude oil, lost almost a dollar to trade at $67.11.

US West Texas Intermediate also lost 30 cents to trade at $63.84.

Bitcoin was also not left out as it traded at $6,000 on Tuesday, a sharp decline from its previous high of $15,000.

The Nigerian market was not the only one that recorded a loss as Asian and American markets recorded losses too.

“A sense of anxiety amongst investors over central banks raising interest rates faster than expected remains one of the likely culprits behind the global sell-off,” Lukman Otunuga, financial analyst, said.

“In Asia, equities were a sea of red during early trade and the negative domino effect has already punished European markets. With Wall Street suffering its largest one-day decline in more than six years on Monday, US stocks could remain depressed.”