By Adedapo Adesanya
Trading activities at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the foreign exchange market was bearish on Monday, October 14, 2019, with the Naira depreciating against the US Dollar.
At the close of business yesterday, the local currency went down by 40 Kobo or 0.11 percent to exchange at N362.53/$1 at the market window despite low demand for the greenback by investors and exporters. The closing price of the domestic currency yesterday was higher than previous session’s N362.13/$1.
As earlier stated, there was a weak demand for forex at the I&E segment as the turnover recorded on Monday went down by 88.6 percent or $169.77 million to $21.90 million from $191.67 million exchanged at the previous session on Friday.
Data from the FMDQ OTC Securities indicated that the Naira remained unchanged against the dollar at the interbank segment of the foreign exchange market at N306.95/$1.
A look at the Naira’s performance at the parallel market showed that the local currency remained flat against the US Dollar and the British Pound, but depreciated against the Euro.
The Naira on Monday traded at N360 to the dollar at the black market, while it was quoted at N452/£1 against the Pound on a day the British Queen addressed the parliament, where she rolled out her government’s plans for the citizens.
However, the Naira depreciated against the Euro by N5, closing on the first trading session of the week at N395/€1 as against N390/€1 it was quoted in the previous trading day.
Globally, the Euro has been moving more in reaction to movement in rival currencies in recent weeks, as the EU data and economic outlook gave the shared currency little in the way of solid support. That movement continued on Monday as Germany’s September wholesale prices report was published with mixed results.
Instead, the Euro advanced on the first trading day as it benefited from the Pound’s losses in the global market.
Dipo Olowookere