By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira wrapped up a strong performance at the Bureau De Change (BDCs) segment of the foreign exchange market on Thursday, appreciating against the US Dollar at the four key states of the federation.
Data obtained by Business Post from the umbrella body of the BDC Operators, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) showed that the local currency appreciated by N2.20 against the greenback in Lagos to trade at N358.50/$1 compared with N360.70/$1 it traded on Wednesday.
In Abuja, the Naira gained N3.30 against the American currency to sell at N358.20 to a Dollar in contrast to N361.50/$1 it traded previously, while it appreciated by N2 in the Port Harcourt to close at N358.50 per dollar against N360.50 it traded on Wednesday, and gained N3.50 at the Kano BDC market to trade at N358/$1 instead of the N361.50 to a dollar it went for the previous day.
A look at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the market, indicated that the domestic currency gained N1.01k equivalent to 0.28 percent to trade at N362.80 to a dollar in contrast to N363.81 per Dollar that it traded at the previous session.
This was helped by the low demand in forex by customers at the market segment yesterday as there was enough FX to meet requests during the trading session.
At the close of transactions, the total turnover stood at $87.10 million compared with $265.90 million achieved on Wednesday, indicating a decline by 67.2 percent or $178.8 million.
Despite garnering strength against the Dollar at the BDC and I&E markets on Thursday, the Naira remained flat at the parallel market, closing at N362/$1 at the end of the day’s session.
It also remained static against the British Pound Sterling at N475/£1 and also unchanged against the Euro at N403/€1 at the black market yesterday.
At the interbank segment of the FX market, the Nigerian currency traded flat against its American counterpart, closing at N306.95/$1, the same rate it went for on Wednsesday.
Modupe Gbadeyanka