FX Turnover Slumps 30.23% as Derivatives Trade Collapses
By Aboki Forex —
Foreign exchange trading turnover fell 30.23 per cent to $2,366.30m in the week ended 18 September 2026, according to FMDQ Group Plc data. The total value of trades between authorised bank dealers and their clients dropped by $1,025.34m from $3,391.64m in the preceding week ended 11 September 2026.
The decline was driven by both spot and derivatives segments, but derivatives recorded the sharper fall. FMDQ Group Chief Operating Officer Ms Tumi Sekoni said “the week-on-week decrease in total turnover was jointly driven by the 21.06 per cent decrease in FX Spot transactions and the 93.74 per cent decrease in FX Derivatives transactions.”
Derivatives volume collapses
FX derivatives turnover nose-dived by 93.74 per cent to $26.78m, from $427.99m in the previous week. The entire derivatives volume was made up of FX Forwards transactions.
Spot market turnover contracted by 21.06 per cent to $2,339.52m, down from $2,963.65m a week earlier. Even with the fall, spot transactions dominated market operations, accounting for 98.87 per cent of total turnover. Derivatives accounted for the remaining 1.13 per cent.
Daily average turnover eases
Daily average foreign exchange market turnover eased to $473.26m. That compares with a daily average of $678.33m in the prior week. The lower daily average reflected reduced liquidity and lower transaction volumes across both bank-to-bank and client trading windows.
What it means for the market
The week’s data shows a market still heavily concentrated in spot transactions, which made up 98.87 per cent of turnover. With derivatives at just 1.13 per cent, the forward segment remains thin. For Nigerian businesses, the sharp fall in forward volumes means less activity in the segment used to hedge future exchange rate risk. The overall drop in turnover also points to weaker liquidity across the week.