Naira gains 0.70 percent on official market as trading week ends

The naira on Friday gained 0.70 percent at the official Foreign Exchange (FX) market as the five days trading week ended calmly.

After trading on Friday, the dollar was quoted at N1,509.67 compared to N1,520.24 quoted on Thursday at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), according to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited.

The dollar supplied by willing buyers and willing sellers decreased by 32.64 percent to $116.88 million on Friday from $173.51 million recorded on Thursday.

The intraday high closed at N1,535 on Friday as against N1,550 closed on Thursday, while the intraday low was quoted at N1,450 on the same day compared to N1,430 quoted Thursday.

At the parallel market, popularly called the black market, the naira lost N5 as the dollar traded for N1,525 on Friday as against N1,520/$ on Thursday. One of the traders told BusinessDay on Friday that there was a dollar in the market and that the demand was not too strong.

The FX market reached convergence on Thursday as the naira/dollar rate quoted at N1,520 at both the official and parallel market.

This rare alignment in the FX market marks a pivotal moment, reflecting efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stabilise the naira and reduce discrepancies between different market segments.

Analysts believe that this convergence may indicate improved transparency and efficiency in the FX market, potentially bolstering investor confidence.