Naira gains further at official market, stable at black market

Naira gained further at the official market on Tuesday as forex supply increased, but maintained stability at the parallel market segment after recording a sharp fall in the previous session on Monday.

Data posted on the FMDQ Security Exchange where forex is officially traded showed that the naira closed at N410.83 at the Nafex window.

Tuesday’s performance represents a N0.45 or 0.11 per cent appreciation from the N411.28 rate it traded in the previous session on Monday.

The currency staged an intraday low of N420.90 and a high of N387.67 before closing at N410.83 on Tuesday.

The local unit status became evident as forex turnover skyrocketed by 114.50 per cent, with $215.53 million recorded at the end of the market session as against the $100. 48 million posted in the previous session on Monday.

The last time the currency hovered around the N410.00 benchmark and above was on June 23.

However, data posted on abokiFX.com, a website that collates parallel market rates in Lagos showed that the naira closed at N502.00 per $1 at the black market window on Tuesday again, the same rate it exchanged hands with the hard currency in the previous session on Monday.

The spread between the parallel market and the official rates stood at N91.17. This translated to a margin of 18.20 per cent as of the close of business on Tuesday.