By Cowry Asset
In the just concluded week, the local currency appreciated week-on-week in most foreign exchange market segments.
The Naira appreciated against the U.S. Dollar by at the Investors & Exporters Forex Window (I&E
FXW) by 0.08% to N360.04/USD while it strengthened by 0.23% to N329.25/USD at the interbank market (NIFEX). This was amid injections by the CBN worth $195 million into the foreign exchange market of which $100 million was allocated to Wholesale (SMIS), $50 million was allocated to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises and $45 million was sold for invisibles.
The Naira closed steady the US Dollar at the Bureau De Change and Parallel market segments by 0.27% and 0.54% to N365/USD and N370/USD respectively.
Meanwhile, dated forward contracts at the interbank OTC segment mostly appreciated amid increase in the foreign exchange reserves – external reserves increased week-on-week by 0.63% to USD33.62 billion as at Wednesday, October 25, 2017. The 1 month, 2 months, 3 months and 12 months contracts appreciated w-o-w by 0.03%, 0.08%, 0.12% and 0.93% to close at N366.06/USD, N372.00/USD, N378.24/USD and N423/USD respectively.
This week, retain our stable outlook for the exchange rate amid sustained stability in global crude oil prices which should result in further build-up in foreign reserves as well as CBN’s continued intervention in the various segments of the interbank foreign exchange market.
Adedapo Adesanya