Nigerian Assets Shrug Off U.S. Threats as Naira and Eurobonds Stage Rebound After Selloff

Nigeria’s naira and eurobonds rebounded after an initial selloff in Monday’s trading following threats over the weekend of military action, by United States President Donald Trump, over ‘killing of Christians’ in the country.

“The FX market seems to be stabilising after the initial widening of bid-offer spreads. So the overall market reaction is broadly contained,” Samir Gadio, Head of Africa Strategy, FX, Rates and Credit Research, at Standard Chartered Bank, told MoneyCentral in an email response to questions.

“Nigeria Eurobond prices fell slightly at open (around -0.5pt), but the dip seems contained and has partly reversed since. In spot, USD-NGN quotes were very wide at open (1425/75), but the range has tightened since (more like 1430/1450 now),” Gadio said.

Making the threat on Saturday, Trump threatened to send US forces into Nigeria with “guns-a-blazing” if Africa’s most populous country does not stem what he described as the killing of Christians by Islamists.

Nigerian equities where foreign funds have less exposure fell 0.25% to close at 153,739.11 points, led by slide in the Insurance (-1.48%), Oil and Gas (-3.94%) and Banking Sectors (-0.22%).

Total Market capitalisation of equities stood at $67.9 billion.

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