Market News

The naira held firm in the parallel market on Tuesday, posting a slight appreciation even as activity at the official window remained subdued, with zero turnover recorded at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM).

In the black market, the local currency strengthened by N5 to close at N1,395 per dollar, reflecting a 0.36 percent gain from the N1,400 per dollar rate recorded in the previous week. 

At the official foreign exchange market, the naira had earlier appreciated by N9.69 to N1,365.25 per dollar on Monday. This represents a 0.71 percent gain compared to N1,374.94 per dollar quoted on Thursday, the last trading day of April 2026, according to data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The gap between the official and parallel market rates widened to N30 per dollar on Tuesday, up from N21 per dollar recorded on Thursday.

Market activity weakened significantly, with the NFEM recording zero deals and zero turnover on Monday, a sharp drop from the 241 deals valued at $370.36 million recorded on April 30, 2026.

However, activity in the interbank segment showed some resilience. A total of 85 deals valued at $59.93 million were recorded, representing a 60.38 percent increase in deal volume from 53 transactions on Thursday. Turnover also edged up by 3.27 percent from $58.03 million. 

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s external reserves continued on a downward trend, declining by 3.32 percent to $48.36 billion as of April 30, 2026, from $59.02 billion recorded on March 11, 2026, according to data from the CBN.

The naira depreciated by 1.20 percent at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market window last week, closing at N1,374.94 per dollar compared to N1,358.44 per dollar in the previous week, according to Coronation Merchant Bank. 

The decline was driven by a relatively weaker midweek performance, during which the currency weakened to an intraweek high of N1,379.46 per dollar before recovering slightly toward the end of the week.

In contrast, the parallel market remained stable, with the naira unchanged at N1,400 per dollar. At this level, the parallel market rate reflected a modest premium of 1.82 percent over the official NFEM rate.

Foreign exchange inflows for the week stood at $0.52 billion. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) accounted for the largest share, contributing $0.25 billion, representing 47.1 percent of total inflows. Exporters and importers followed with $0.18 billion (34.9 percent), while non-bank corporates contributed $0.07 billion (14.7 percent). Other sources, including foreign direct investment (FDI) and corporates, made up the remaining $0.02 billion, or 3.3 percent.

On the external front, Nigeria’s gross foreign exchange reserves declined slightly to $48.37 billion as of April 29, 2026, representing a week-on-week drop of 0.14 percent, equivalent to $69.99 million, based on data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria. 

Looking ahead, analysts at Coronation Merchant Bank expect the naira to remain range-bound but under mild pressure in the near term, with continued support likely from the Central Bank’s Open Market Operations (OMO) strategy.