assentamento diário
A Liquidação Diária é o processo de fim de dia, no qual uma bolsa de valores ou plataforma de negociação soma ganhos e perdas e move o dinheiro real entre contas.
Automatically translated. Read the original in English.
In plain English
Adaeze trades index futures from her flat in Lekki, and one Tuesday evening she watched her account balance jump by ₦180,000 without her lifting a finger.
She had not sold anything. She had simply held a position that went her way, and when the market closed, the exchange did what it does every single day, it looked at where prices ended and settled every open account accordingly.
This is Daily Settlement. At the close of trading, the exchange or clearing house calculates the profit or loss on every open position based on that day's closing price, then credits the winners and debits the losers, all before the next trading day begins.
It matters most in markets like futures and some derivatives, where positions stay open for days or weeks. Instead of waiting until you finally close the trade to find out if you made money, the account is settled fresh every evening, so nobody carries a hidden pile of losses they cannot see.
Think of it like a household that reconciles its accounts every night instead of once a year. Adaeze's broker in Lagos does this daily so that if the market turns against her tomorrow, she only owes what she owes from that one day, not a frightening backlog.
For everyday stock investors on the Nigerian Exchange buying shares outright, this concept shows up differently, mostly in the settlement cycle for trades themselves, but the spirit is the same, the market wants its books balanced every single day, not left to guesswork.
Tunde opens a futures position worth ₦2,000,000. By the close of trading, the underlying asset has risen enough that his position is now worth ₦2,050,000. Daily Settlement credits ₦50,000 to his account that evening, and tomorrow's calculation starts fresh from the new value.
Questions people ask
Does Daily Settlement apply to ordinary shares I buy and hold?
Not in the same way. It mainly applies to futures, some derivatives, and margin accounts where positions stay open and prices move daily. Regular share purchases follow a separate settlement cycle for the trade itself, usually a couple of days after you buy or sell.
Can Daily Settlement wipe out my account overnight?
It can reduce your balance sharply if the market moves strongly against your position, which is why brokers often ask for extra funds, called margin, to cover possible losses before they happen.
Why would a market bother settling every single day instead of just at the end of a trade?
It protects everyone. Settling daily stops losses from calmly piling up over weeks, so both the trader and the broker always know exactly where they stand.
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