Naira appreciates by 1.09% to N406.50/$ 

By Kayode Tokede

Naira at the Investors & Exporters Foreign Exchange ( I & E FX) market appreciated by 1.09 per cent to close at N406.50 against the dollar on Thursday.

While Naira gained 0.43 per cent against the Euro closing at N489.87, it inched down by 0.02per cent against the Pound sterling at N568.90.

The Naira appreciated against the Dollar at the I &E market on Wednesday to close at N411/$1. This represents a 63 kobo gain when compared to N411.63 recorded on the previous trading day.

The opening indicative rate closed at N410.66 to a dollar on Wednesday. This represents a 55 kobo drop when compared to N410.11/$1 recorded on Tuesday.

The FMDQ Exchange said a turnover of $66.99 million was traded by investors and exporters on Thursday.

The foreign exchange turnover at the I&E window dropped by 44per cent from $59.17 million recorded on Tuesday to $33.15 million on Wednesday.

At the parallel market, the Naira closed flat against the Pound sterling, Dollar and Euro at N672, N480 and N580 respectively.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) disclosed that Naira at the inter-bank market traded flat at N379 against the Dollar.

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

Money market rates increased today as Open Buy Back and Overnight rates inched up by 67bps and 87bps to close at 7.68per cent and 8.50 per cent respectively.

The bond market was quiet today as yields remained unchanged on most maturities. Consequently, we witnessed the yields on the 5yr, 7yr and 10yr benchmark bonds close flat at 9.97 per cent, 10.10% and 10.40 per cent respectively.

“In the near term, we expect market activity to be influenced by liquidity levels and foreign investor participation,” they added.