Naira Maintains Strong Performance at FX Market Thursday

By Adedapo Adesanya 

The Naira pulled a strong performance across segments of the foreign exchange market on Thursday, January 16, to close the session with an overall positive outcome against major foreign currencies.

At the close of transactions at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment, the Naira recorded a 0.19 percent or 68 kobo gain to trade at N361.92 per Dollar compared with N362.60/$1 it exchanged at the mid-week session.

During the session, there was a 184 percent rise in demand for the American currency at the segment as investors exchanged a total of $747.81 million, higher than the previous session’s turnover of $263.45 million.

At the Bureaux De Change (BDCs) segment in Lagos, the Naira gained 20 kobo to close at N360.20k to a dollar compared with N360.70k it traded on Wednesday. It, however, depreciated by 50 kobo against the pound in Lagos to close at N477/£1 from N476.50/£1 and also lost N1 against the Euro to close at N400/£1 from N399 recorded on Monday.

At the Abuja BDC market, the domestic currency closed flat against the US Dollar, Pounds, and Euro on Thursday at N360.80/$1, N478.50/£1, and N399/£1 respectively.

Likewise, at the Port Harcourt market, the local currency exchange rate closed without any price movement from the rates quoted on Wednesday. The Naira ended at N360.50/$1, N481/£1, and N400/€1 against the Dollar, Pound and Euro respectively.

Meanwhile, in Kano, the Naira shed N1 to close at N361 against the greenback from N360/$1 recorded previously. But it recorded no changes against both the Pound and the Euro as it remained stable at N475/£1 and 400/€1 apiece.

At the parallel market, the domestic legal tender remained static against the US Dollar to close at N362 per Dollar, while it gained N3 against the British Pound Sterling to end at N477/£1 after closing flat at N480/£1 on Wednesday. Following the same pattern, the Naira regained the N2 it lost against the Euro at the previous session, appreciating to N400/€1 from N402/€1.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rate, however, saw no difference at the interbank segment of the market as it closed at N306.90/$1.