Trading activity in Nigeria's official foreign exchange market contracted sharply in the week ended October 2, 2026, as total turnover across FX Spot and Derivatives fell 35.41% to $1,696.97 million, down from $2.63 billion a week earlier, according to FMDQ's weekly market report published Sunday, October 4.
The pullback was concentrated in spot transactions, which declined $955.70 million, or 36.93%, to $1.632 billion from $2.588 billion. Average daily spot turnover fell to $408.06 million from $517.59 million. Spot's share of total activity slipped to 96.19% from 98.51%, a drop of 2.32 percentage points.
FX Derivatives, made up of FX Forwards, moved in the opposite direction, rising 65.09% to $64.73 million from $39.21 million, an increase of $25.52 million. Average daily derivatives turnover climbed to $16.18 million from $7.84 million, and the segment's share of total turnover rose to 3.81% from 1.49%. Despite the jump, derivatives remain small: roughly $96.19 of every $100 traded came from spot transactions, with $3.81 from derivatives.
Overall average daily FX turnover fell to $424.24 million from $525.43 million, a decline of about 19.3%, reversing the gradual recovery recorded in the two preceding weeks. Renewed demand for dollars at the official market outweighed a $100 million intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria during the week, even as gross external reserves increased by $62.17 million to $54.93 billion as of September 30, 2026.
Forward pricing showed the naira weakening by 9 basis points in the one-month contract to N1,350.62/$, while strengthening across longer tenors: up 4 basis points to N1,385.61/$ at three months, up 28 basis points to N1,434.30/$ at six months, and up 78 basis points to N1,529.80/$ at one year. Analysts at Cordros Capital noted that the pattern points to a more constructive longer-term naira outlook than near-term positioning suggests.
For September, gross external reserves rose by $1.114 billion to $54.920 billion from $53.806 billion at the end of August, while the naira gained N3.78 at the official window to close at N1,329.16/$. CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso had previously said interventions accounted for roughly 1.2% to 1.3% of total FX turnover, a level consistent with the $100 million recorded against weekly turnover of $1.697 billion.
