FX Market Turnover Falls 47% in One Week
Turnover in Nigeria’s foreign exchange market fell sharply in the week ending 10 July 2026, with activity across both the Spot and Derivatives segments dropping by nearly half.
Data from FMDQ Exchange showed total turnover at $1.63bn, down 46.6% from $3.05bn the previous week, representing a liquidity loss of about $1.42bn.
The decline was driven by weaker demand in both segments. FX Spot transactions fell 46.6% ($1.38bn), while FX Derivatives turnover dropped 45.2% ($42.2m).
FMDQ noted, “The week-on-week decrease in total turnover was jointly driven by the 46.62% decrease in FX Spot transactions and the 45.19% decrease in FX Derivatives transactions.”
Within derivatives, the slump was entirely due to reduced appetite for FX Forwards, which fell by 45.2%. Exchange-traded FX Futures recorded no activity, remaining flat at $0.00m.
Daily average liquidity also weakened, slipping from $610.6m to $326.2m.
Despite the slowdown, FX Spot transactions continued to dominate, accounting for 96.9% of total turnover, while FX Forwards made up just 3.1%.
Experts say the contraction reflects cooling corporate demand for hedging instruments, with businesses holding back on future-value contracts amid uncertainty in the FX market.