26 April 2019 ( Lagos ) :It has certainly been a painful trading week for emerging market currencies thank to the combination of rising oil prices, a broadly stronger Dollar and renewed concerns over slowing global growth.

Major emerging market currencies like the South African Rand, Argentine Peso, Turkish Lira and South Korean Won among many others all felt the heat. With oil prices trading around elevated levels and the Dollar reclaiming its thrown in the currency space, this is bad news for emerging market currencies especially those whose nations are energy importers. However, the jump in oil prices this week has been a breath of fresh air for oil exporters like Nigeria, given how a fair chunk of its revenues are acquired from oil sales. The Naira witnessed stability against the Dollar throughout the week with prices trading around 358N on the parallel markets.

Much attention will be directed towards the pending manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMI reports which should offer fresh insight into the health of the Nigerian economy. Should both PMI figures exceed market expectations, confidence over the largest economy in the Africa will most likely receive a boost.

Source : Lukman Otunuga, FXTM Research Analyst

Reporting for EasyKobo on Thursday , 26 April 2019 in Lagos, Nigeria