Stocks hit 15-Year High as Naira firms at official market following Emefiele’s Suspension
The Nigerian stock market surged to its highest level since July 2008 on Tuesday, the first trading day after the suspension of former CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele.
Market analysts have speculated that the surge is not unconnected with investors’ optimism that the ouster of the CBN governor is a signal of coming monetary policy reforms.
Bloomberg reveals the main index of the Nigerian Exchange rose 2.7 percent to above 57,437 points, taking the year-to-date gains of the market to 11.8 percent, almost double the six percent return on the MSCI index.
Meanwhile, Naira has appreciated against the dollar by 0.18 percent at the Investors and Exporters (I&E), on Tuesday, the first trading day after a shakeup at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
After trading on Tuesday, the Naira dollar was quoted at N471.67 as against the last close of N472.50 on Friday.
Most currency dealers who participated in the foreign exchange auction on Tuesday maintained bids between N460.00 and N477.00 per dollar.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Friday, suspended Emefiele, following the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.
The local currency on Tuesday gained 0.66 percent against the dollar at the parallel market following low demand as speculators adopt a wait-and-see approach, after the suspension of the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
At the money market, the Nigeria Treasury Bills (NTB) secondary market closed on a flat note on Tuesday with the average yield across the curve remaining unchanged at 6.34 percent, according to a report by FSDH research.
Average yields across short-term and medium-term maturities closed flat at 4.49 percent and 5.30 percent, respectively. However, the average yield across the long-term maturities decreased by 0.01 percent.
