New Dollar-Trading Window Sends Stocks Surging

Nigeria’s stocks are surging thanks to a new platform that allows investors to buy and sell dollars more easily. The window, which opened on April 24, is easing a scarcity of foreign exchange in Africa’s biggest economy, officials say. The nation’s equities rose more than 7 percent last week, the most globally, as investors put money into a New York-listed exchange-traded fund that tracks Nigerian stocks for the first time since March.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s overnight interbank lending rate rose sharply to 29.5 percent on Friday, up from 19 percent last week, after the central bank sold treasury bills to soak up liquidity from the banking system in a bid to curb pressure on the naira.