I & E FX window: Naira depreciates by 0.04% to N411.67/$
By Kayode Tokede
Naira at the Investors & Exporters Foreign Exchange (I & EFX) window it inched down by 0.04per cent printing at N411.67 against the Dollar on Thursday.
The Naira at the specialized window for investors and exporters gained by 0.35% and 0.08% against the Pound Sterling and Euro closing at N572.07 and N490.41 respectively.
Naira depreciated against the Dollar at the Investors and Exporters window on Wednesday to close at N411.50 against the Dollar, representing a N1.50 drop when compared to the N410 against the Dollar that was recorded the previous day.
The opening indicative rate closed at N411.15 to a Dollar on Wednesday, representing a 20 kobo drop when compared to the N410.95 against the Dollar recorded on Tuesday.
Also, an exchange rate of N430 against the Dollar was the highest rate recorded during intra-day trading, before it settled at N411.50 against the Dollar. It also sold for as low as N400 against the Dollar during intra-day trading.
FMDQ on Thursday disclosed that foreign exchange turnover by Investors & exporters was $109.47 million.
Foreign exchange turnover at the I&E window rose by 14% on Wednesday.
FMDQ had reported a foreign exchange turnover increased from $169.07 million recorded on Tuesday, to $192.75 million on Wednesday.
At the parallel market, while the Naira depreciated by 0.51% to close at N595 against the Euro, it closed flat against the Dollar and Pound Sterling at N500 and N710 respectively.
“Going forward, we expect the FX market to be dictated by heightened dollar demand and CBN FX policies,” analysts at Investment One Research said.
Money market rates declined as Open Buy Back and Overnight rates fell by 100basis points and 175basis points to close at 19% and 19.25% respectively.
The bond market traded on a somewhat negative note, as yields inched up on short and medium tenures.
The yield on the 10yr benchmark bond close flat at 12.47%, the yield on the 5yr benchmark bond increased by 8bps to 12.60%. Conversely, the yield on the 7yr bond fell by 2basis points to 12.45%.
According to the CBN, the country’s external reserve continued its slide on Wednesday as it dropped by $37 million to close at $33.634 billion.
This represents a 0.11% decline compared to $33.671 billion recorded on Tuesday.
A total of $1.74 billion has been lost in reserves year-to-date, while month-to-date loss stands at $442.5 million.
Nigeria’s forex reserve continues to trend downwards despite the positive rally recorded in the global crude oil market, with Brent crude currently trading at $75.23 per barrel.
It is worth noting that India’s oil imports have started recovering after months of lessened activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on the country’s economy.
