FMDQ FX market turnover hits $2.84 billion as trading surges 22%

The Foreign Exchange (FX) market recorded a total turnover of $2.84 billion in the week ended June 26, 2026, as trading activity strengthened across both spot and derivatives segments.

This is according to the latest weekly FX market turnover report released by FMDQ Exchange.

The report obtained by Nairametrics showed that the total turnover of $2.84 billion represented an increase of $512.37 million, or 22.06%, compared with the $2.32 billion recorded in the previous week ended June 19, 2026.

The improvement in market activity was driven by higher volumes in both the FX Spot and FX Derivatives markets.

The market recorded an average daily turnover of $567.09 million during the review week, up from $464.62 million in the preceding week.

What the data is saying:

A breakdown of market activity shows that the FX Spot market remained the dominant segment, accounting for almost all transactions executed during the week.

• FX Spot transactions rose to $2.77 billion, representing 97.74% of total turnover, compared with $2.29 billion recorded in the previous week.
• The segment recorded a week-on-week increase of $484.47 million, representing a growth of 21.18%.
• Average daily turnover in the FX Spot market increased to $554.28 million from $457.39 million in the previous week.
• FX Derivatives transactions climbed sharply to $64.04 million from $36.14 million recorded in the preceding week.
• The derivatives market accounted for 2.26% of total turnover during the review period, up from 1.56% in the previous week.

Overall, FX Derivatives turnover increased by 77.20%, equivalent to an additional $27.90 million in traded value. Within the derivatives segment, FX Forwards remained the only actively traded instrument.

• FX Forwards turnover rose to $64.04 million from $36.14 million in the previous week.

The increase represented a week-on-week growth of 77.20%.

• Average daily turnover in the FX Forwards market rose to $12.81 million from $7.23 million.

Exchange-Traded FX Futures recorded no activity during the review week, unchanged from the previous week.

More insights:

The strong increase in FX Spot turnover suggests improved market participation among banks and their clients during the week.

• The spot market continued to dominate overall trading activity, accounting for almost 98% of total market turnover.
• This reinforces the market’s continued preference for immediate currency transactions over longer-dated hedging instruments.
• The sharp increase in FX Forwards turnover points to growing demand for hedging instruments amid persistent exchange rate uncertainty.
• However, the derivatives market remains relatively shallow compared with the spot segment.
• The widening gap between spot and derivatives turnover indicates that most market participants still prefer direct access to foreign exchange rather than hedging future currency exposures.

The rise in average daily turnover across both market segments also suggests improved liquidity conditions in the interbank foreign exchange market.

What you should know:

The sustained weekly improvement in performance underscores the central role of the FX Spot market in Nigeria’s foreign exchange ecosystem.

• For the previous week-ended June 19, 2026, the total turnover in the FX Spot and Derivatives markets was $2.323 billion, representing an increase of 7.70% (+$166.05 million) from the $2.157 billion reported for the week-ended June 11, 2026.
• For that previous week, the increase in total turnover was jointly driven by the 6.80% ($145.64 million) increase in FX Spot transactions which recorded a total value of $2.286 billion compared to $2.141 billion in the week-ended June 11, 2026,
• FX Derivatives transactions increased by 129.75% ($20.41 million) for the week-ended June 19, 2026.
• Exchange-Traded FX Futures has remained the only instrument with zero turnover for the second consecutive week.

The sustained growth in market turnover suggests that liquidity conditions in the foreign exchange market remained relatively robust during the period, although trading activity continues to be concentrated in spot transactions.