Naira at I & E FX trades flat N412/$
Naira at Investors & Exporters Foreign Exchange (I & E FX) window traded flat at N412 against the Dollar Monday.
Also, Naira lost by 0.32 per cent and 0.41per cent against the Pound Sterling and Euro closing at N584.35 and N502.88 respectively.
Naira had depreciated against the Dollar at the Investors and Exporters window on Friday to close at N412 against the Dollar, representing a N1 decline when compared to the N411 against the Dollar that was recorded the previous day.
According to FMDQ, a foreign exchange turnover of $125.44million was traded on Monday.
FMDQ had revealed that foreign exchange turnover reduced from $350.65 million/ recorded on Thursday, 27th May 2021 to $156.06 million on Friday, 28th May 2021.
At the parallel market, while the Naira depreciated by 0.17per cent and 1.44per cent against the Euro and Pound Sterling to close at N596 and N700 respectively, it closed flat at N495 against the Dollar.
“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 dropped today as the Open Buy Back and Overnight rates decreased by 617basis points each to close at 12.50per cent and 113per cent respectively.
The bond market traded on a positive note on Monday as yields declined at the medium to long end of the curve.
The yields on the 5yr and 7yr benchmark bonds shed 8bps and 11 basis points to close at 12.55per cent and 13.03 per cent respectively, while the yield on the 10yr bond closed flat at 13.21per cent.
The nation’s external reserve declined by 0.06per cent on Thursday, 27th May 2021 to stand at $34.26billion. This means that Nigeria has lost a total of over $1 billion in a little over a month.
The Nigerian foreign reserve has recorded a persistent downtrend for 36 days, with the highest loss coming on 10th May 2021, when the reserves dipped $111.56 million.
Foreign reserve has continued to dip since April 2021 despite the bullish trend recorded in the global oil market. It could, however, be attributed to low sales of Nigerian crude due to the resurgence of the COVID-19 in India, one of the highest buyers of Nigerian crude.
Meanwhile, the CBN continues to intensify its effort in attracting foreign remittances into the country, which led to the indefinite extension of the “Naira4Dollar” scheme earlier in May.
