Naira depreciates by 0.15% to N409.30/$
Naira at the Investors & Exporters Foreign Exchange (I & E FX) window on Thursday depreciated by 0.15 per cent to close N409.30.
The local currency also lost by 0.60per cent and 0.62 per cent against the Pound Sterling and Euro closing at N565.23 and N481.13 respectively.
A foreign exchange turnover of $35.55million was traded at the I & E FX window on Thursday.
According to FMDQ, a turnover of $35.37million foreign exchange was traded on Wednesday at the I & E FX window.
Nigerian NewsDirect had reported that a foreign exchange turnover of $30.84million and $47.93million was traded on Monday and Tuesday respectively.
Meanwhile, Naira at the parallel market against Dollar, Pound Sterling and Euro by 0.21per cent, 0.59 per cent and 0.34 per cent at N485, N672 and N573 respectively.
Naira at the interbank market of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) traded flat at N379 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 surged today with Open Buy Back and Overnight rates skyrocketing from 8.25 per cent and 9.25 per cent to 30 per cent and 32.50 per cent respectively.
The bond market was negative today with yields rising across the curve.
The yields on the 7-year and 10-year benchmark bonds increase by 12basis points and 24basis points to close at 10.61 per cent and 10.95 per cent respectively, while the yield on the 5-year benchmark bond closed flat at 10.05 per cent.
“In the near term, we expect market activity to be influenced by liquidity levels and foreign investor participation,” according to analysts at InvestmentOne research.
The CBN stated that the country’s foreign reserve increased by 0.09per cent on Tuesday 30th, March 2021 to stand at $34.79 billion.
This represents the seventh consecutive day increase, gaining a total of $370 million from $34.42 billion recorded as of March 18, 2021, to $34.79 billion as of 30th March 2021.
Nigeria’s reserve had lost about $860 million year-to-date before recording increases in the past seven days, which indicates that the recent oil price rally is beginning to reflect in the country’s external reserve.
