Naira maintains gain at black market

The naira extended its gain against the U.S. dollar at the unofficial market window on Tuesday by rising to 508 per $1.

According to abokiFX.com, the currency closed with a N4.00 or 0.80 per cent appreciation from the N512.00 rate it exchanged hands on Monday.

Naira opened at N512.00 and saw an intraday low of N510.00 and a high of N509.00 before settling at N508.00 at the close of business on Tuesday.

By implication, the domestic unit has gained 3.24 per cent at the unofficial market segment after recording an all-time decline on July 28 when it closed at N525.00 after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stopped forex sales to Bureau De Change operators.

However, naira recorded no movement against the U.S. dollar at the official Investors and Exporters (I&E) window on Tuesday.

Data published on the FMDQ Security Exchange where forex is officially traded showed that the naira closed at N411.50 per $1, the same rate it traded in the previous session on Monday.

The foreign exchange turnover remained unchanged at $143.20 million, the same rate recorded in the previous session on Monday.

This leaves the spread between the official market and the unofficial market rates at N96.50, leaving a margin of 19.00 per cent as of the close of business Tuesday.