Market News

On Thursday, it opened at N562 per $1 in the morning, rose to N565 at noon, before closing at N570.

By Abdulkareem Mojeed

Naira fell profoundly against the U.S. dollar at both the official and unofficial market segment on Thursday.

According to abokiFX.com, a website that collates the parallel market rates in Lagos, the local unit closed at N570 per $1 on Thursday.

This represents a N8.00 or 1.42 per cent devaluation from the N562 rate it exchanged on Wednesday. It was the biggest single day plunge in several months.

The currency has maintained continuous decline at the parallel market for eight straight trading days. On Thursday, it opened at N562 per $1 in the morning, rose to N565 at noon, before closing at N570.

Similarly, the domestic unit saw a significant decline against the U.S. dollar at the official market on Thursday as foreign exchange supply plummeted significantly.

Data published on the FMDQ securities exchange window where forex is officially traded, showed that naira closed at N413.07 per $1, after the currency remained stable in the previous session on Wednesday.

Thursday’s performance represents a N1.01 or 0.25 per cent depreciation from the N412.06 rate it traded in the past two consecutive sessions (Wednesday and Tuesday).

The foreign exchange supply on Thursday decreased by 59.00 per cent with $126.96 million recorded against $308.92 million posted in the previous session on Wednesday.

It touched an intraday high of N404.00 and a low of N413.00 at the trading session before closing at N413.07 on Thursday.

The disparity between the official and unofficial market rates stood at N156.93 as of the close of business on Thursday, which leaves a spread of 27.53 per cent.