FMDQ OTC Exchange Records N115trn Transactions in 10 Months

Goddy Egene

Trading in the secondary segment of the fixed income and currency markets operated by the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange remained upbeat, recording transactions worth N115 trillion from January to October 2017. Transaction turnover had grown to N102.84 trillion as at end of September while the month of October accounted for N12.18 trillion.

A breakdown of the transactions in October showed that the Treasury Bills (T.bills) market accounted for 37.20 per cent while Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) bonds recorded 6.51 per cent of total turnover in October.

Activities in the Foreign Exchange (FX) market accounted for 36.92 per cent while Money Market (Repurchase Agreements (Repos)/Buy-Backs & Unsecured Placements/Takings) accounted for 19.27 per cent of total turnover for the reporting periodSpecifically, transactions in the FX market settled at $13.86 billion in October, showing a decrease of 1.23 per cent compared with the value recorded in September.

In the month under review, the Naira appreciated slightly in the Investors’ & Exporters’ (I&E) FX Window closing at $/N359.72 whilst also trading at a premium to the parallel market which also appreciated in the month of October to $/N363.00(from $/N364.00 at the beginning of the month). Total value traded in the I&E FX Window stood at $4.30 billion for October, down 6.68 per cent relative to the value recorded in September.

Turnover in the fixed income market in the month under review settled at N5.32 trillion, a 1.25 per cent decrease as against September value. However, transactions in the T.bills market accounted for 85.10 per cent of the overall fixed income market. Outstanding T.bills at the end of the month stood at N9.87 trillion, showing an increase of 4.43 per cent from N9.45 trillion as at the end of September. FGN bonds outstanding value increased by 1.37 per cent to close at N7.42trn, from ₦7.32trn in September

Trading intensity in the fixed income market for the month under review settled at 0.47 and 0.11for T.bills and FGN bonds respectively, from 0.47 and 0.15respectively, recorded the previous month.

Activities in the Secured Money Market (that is Repos/Buy-Backs) settled at N2.15 trillion in October, 27.44 per cent more than the value recorded in September. On a year-on-year(YoY) basis, turnover on Repos/Buy-Backs recorded a 13.85 per cent increase. Unsecured Placements/Takings closed the month at a turnover of N197.98 billion, a 66.15 per cent increase MoM and a 155.60 per cent increase YoY.

The number of executed trades captured on the E-Bond trading system for the month of October amounted to 14,687 as against 18,535 recorded in September.

Executed T.bills and FGN bonds trades decreased by 22.46 per cent and 13.77 per cent respectively when compared to the previous month.