Naira depreciates by 0.12% at I & E FX window
By Kayode Tokede
Naira at the Investors Foreign Exchange window ( I & E FX) on Wednesday lost by 0.12 per cent to close at N411 against the Dollar.
The local currency also lost by 0.15 per cent against the Dollar to close at N486.14 but inched up by 0.50 per cent against the Pound Sterling to close at N562.22.
A foreign exchange turnover of $11.85 million was traded by Investors and Exporters, according to FMDQ.
The foreign exchange turnover at the I&E window had increased by 14.8per cent on Tuesday.
Data from FMDQ showed that foreign exchange turnover increased from $35.55 million/ recorded on Thursday, 1st April 2021, to/ $40.8 million on Tuesday.
However, the Naira had depreciated against the Dollar at the I& E FX window on Tuesday to close at N410.5 against the Dollar. This represents a N1.20k decline when compared to N409.3 against the Dollar recorded on Thursday, April 1, 2021.
The opening indicative rate closed at N409.48 to a dollar on Tuesday. This represents 48 kobo decline compared to N409 against the Dollar recorded the previous day.
Also, an exchange rate of N419.3 against the dollar was the highest rate recorded during intra-day trading before it closed at N410.5 against the Dollar. It also sold for as low as N394 against the Dollar during intra-day trading.
At the parallel market, while the Naira appreciated against the Pound Sterling by 0.59 per cent to close at N670, it closed flat against the Dollar and Euro at N485 and N573 respectively.
Our correspondent gathered that Naira traded flat at N379 against the Dollar at the interbank foreign exchange market of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
According to analysts at InvestmentOne, “Going forward, we expect the foreign exchange market to be dictated by heightened dollar demand and CBN foreign exchange policies.”
Money market rates fell today with Open Buy Back and Overnight rates dropping by 83basis points and 25basis points to 12.67 per cent and 13.50 per cent respectively.
The bond market was somewhat negative today with yields rising on some maturities. Nonetheless, we witnessed yields on the 5-year, 7-year and 10-year benchmark bonds close flat at 10.04 basis points, 10.95 basis points and 11.17 basis points respectively.
“In the near term, we expect market activity to be influenced by liquidity levels and foreign investor participation,” they added.
