Marché Nouvelles

The currency rallied after hitting an all-time low last week.

By Abdulkareem Mojeed

Naira gained further against the U.S dollar at the official market on Monday, stretching the currency’s appreciation momentum to two business days on a stretch after it staged an all-time record low in the market segment last week.

Data from FMDQ securities exchange window where forex is officially traded showed the domestic unit exchanged hands with the hard currency at N414.73 per $1 on Monday, which implies a N0.34 or 0.10 per cent increase from the N415.07 rate it exchanged on Friday last week.

The spot market forex turnover decreased by 54.41 per cent with $172.00 million recorded on Monday as against the $377.28 million posted at the close of business in the previous session on Friday last week .

Naira touched an intraday high of N405.00 and a low of N425.00 before closing at N414.73 to a dollar on Monday.

At the black market in Abuja, dealers exchanged the currency at the rate of N568.00 and sold at N574.00 to a dollar on Monday.

While at Uyo, dealers said they exchanged the currency at N 565.00, and sold within the range of N567 to 568.00 to a dollar on Monday, the same rate it traded in the previous session on Friday last week.

“Due to the holiday tomorrow, we are afraid to buy many dollars today because we don’t know what the outcome will be on Wednesday,” a dealer who does not want his name mentioned told PREMIUM TIMES via telephone.