Market News

The currency was stable at the official market where it touched an intraday high of N400.00.

By Abdulkareem Mojeed

The naira gained against the U.S. dollar at the unofficial market window on Wednesday by rising to N506.00 per $1.

According to abokiFX.com, the currency closed with a N2.00 or 0.40 per cent appreciation from the N508.00 rate it exchanged hands with the greenback currency in the previous session on Tuesday.

The currency has maintained five consecutive gains on a stretch at the parallel market after the currency hit an all-time devaluation of N525.00 on Wednesday last week, as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stopped forex sales to Bureau De Change operators.

However, the naira maintained stability against the U.S dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window also known as the Nafex rates on Wednesday.

Figures from the FMDQ Security Exchange where forex is officially traded showed that the naira closed at N411.50 per $1, the same rate it has traded on the market segment for three consecutive sessions on a stretch.

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It touched an intraday high of N400.00 and staged a low of N413.00 before settling at N411.50 at the Nafex window.

This happened as forex supply dipped by 11.40 per cent, with $126.92 million posted at the end of the market session as against the $143.20 million recorded in the previous session on Tuesday.

This disparity between the official market and the unofficial market rates is pegged at N94.50, leaving a margin of 18.70 per cent as of the close of business Wednesday.