Naira slides at black market

The naira fell marginally against the U.S dollar at the parallel market segment on Friday after maintaining stability for five consecutive sessions simultaneously.

However, the local unit clinched a pronounced gain at the official market after it also remained unchanged in the previous session on Thursday.

Data gleaned on abokiFX.com, a website that displays parallel market rates in Lagos showed that naira closed at N506.00 per $1 at the black market window on Friday.

This implies a N1.00 or 0.20 per cent devaluation from the N505.00 rate it was trading since July 9.

However, data published on the FMDQ Security Exchange where forex is officially traded showed that the local unit closed at N410.38 per $1 at the Nafex window on Friday.

This represents a N0.82 or 0.2 per cent appreciation from the N411.20 rate it traded in the last two sessions(Wednesday and Thursday) respectively.

This happened as the naira perceived an intraday low of N412.76 and oscillated to a high of N400.00 before settling at N410.38 as of the close of business on Friday.

The market session forex supply dipped by 6.00 per cent, with $116.55 million recorded at the end of the market session as against the $123.69 million posted in the previous session on Thursday.

The naira has hovered around the N411.00 and above the benchmark for the past fortnight before closing at N410.38 on Friday.

The last time it touched the N410.00 and above trademark was on June 30 last month when it exchanged hands with greenback currency at N410.83 on the dot.

Based on the aforementioned status of the domestic unit at both the black market and the official window rates, the disparity between the trading sessions is pegged at N95.62, leaving a spread of 19.00 per cent as of the close of business on Friday.