• Tuesday, March 19, 2024
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BusinessDay

Naira records marginal depreciation on low liquidity

Naira falls to N490 on black market after CBN widens official window

Nigeria’s currency on Monday depreciated marginally by 0.08 percent against the dollar at the Investors and exporters (I&E) forex window as liquidity declined.

The foreign exchange turnover declined by 77.74 percent to $32.61 million on Monday from $146.52 million recorded on Friday.

Consequently, after trading on Monday, the naira/dollar exchange rate closed at N410.67k as against N410.33k closed on Friday, data from the FMDQ showed.

Currency traders who participated in the trading on Monday maintained bids at between N401.10k and N422.00k/$, according to the data.

Exchange rate remained flat at N482 at the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment of the foreign exchange market and N483 at the parallel market.

At the money market, the Nigerian treasury bills secondary market closed on a positive note on Monday with average yield across the curve decreasing by 15 bps to close at 5.00 percent from 5.15 percent on the previous day, a report by the FSDH Research stated.

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Furthermore, the average yields across the long-term maturities declined by 31 bps, while the average yields across the medium-term maturities expanded by 2 bps. However, the average yield across short-term maturities closed flat at 2.96 percent. Yields on 8 bills declined with the 28-Apr-22 maturity bill recording the highest yield decline of 186 bps, while yields on 11 bills remained unchanged.

The Overnight (O/N) rate decreased by 0.25 percent to close at 15.00 percent on Monday as against the last close of 15.25 percent on Friday, and the Open Buy Back (OBB) rate also decreased by 0.25 percent to close at 14.50 percent from 14.75 percent on the previous day.

In the Open Market Operation (OMO) bills market, the average yield across the curve increased by 10 bps to close at 8.49 percent on Monday as against the last close of 8.39 percent on Friday.

Selling pressure was seen across short-term, medium-term, and long-term maturities with average yields rising by 8 bps, 20 bps, and 4 bps, respectively. Yields on 15 bills advanced with the 16-Nov-21 maturity bill registering the highest yield increase of 26 bps, while yields on 2 bills remained unchanged.

FGN bonds secondary market closed on a mildly positive note on Monday, as the average bond yield across the curve cleared lower by 2 bps to close at 9.01 percent from 9.03 percent on Friday.

Average yields across short tenor and long tenor of the curve compressed by 3 bps and 10 bps, respectively. However, the average yields across the medium tenor of the curve increased by 8 bps.

The FGNSB 13-NOV-2021 bond was the best performer with a decrease in the yield of 110 bps, while the FGNSB 15-MAY-2022 bond was the worst performer with an increase in the yield of 61 bps.

Furthermore, the trading activities in the secondary bond market are likely to remain subdued due to relatively tight system liquidity.