Naira trades flat at Interbank market of CBN

By Kayode Tokede

Naira traded flat at N379 against the dollar at the interbank market of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday.

However, the local currency at the Investors & Exporters Foreign Exchange (I & EFX) window, the Naira closed up by 0.21per cent, 2.21 per cent and 2.36 per cent against the dollar, euro and pounds to close at N393.83, N460.28 and N517.03 respectively.

FMDQ Exchange said on Tuesday that a total foreign exchange turnover of $26.83 million was traded by investors and exporters as against $69.00million traded on Monday.

At the parallel market, while the Naira closed flat against the euro and dollar at N580 and N475 respectively, it lost 0.93 per cent against the pounds to close at N648.

“Going forward, we expect the foreign exchange market to be dictated by heightened dollar demand and CBN foreign exchange policies,” analysts at Investment One research said.

Meanwhile, the money market rates declined today as Open Buy Back and Overnight rates decreased by 12basis points and 33basis points to 0.38 per cent and 0.50 per cent respectively.

The bond market traded on a somewhat positive note as yields decreased on medium and long tenures. Nonetheless, the yields on the 5yr and 10yr benchmark bonds increase by 13basis points and 11basis points to close at 5.71 per cent and 8.35per cent respectively, while the yield on the 7yr benchmark bond closed flat at 7.74 per cent.

Analysts at Investment One research added that, “In the near term, we expect market activity to be influenced by liquidity levels and foreign investor participation.”