Naira sustains gains at official market despite drop in dollar supply

The naira sustained gains against the US currency at the official foreign exchange (FX) market, despite a drop in dollar supply by market players on Monday.

The summary of the FX transactions published by the FMDQ Securities Exchange revealed that the naira appreciated by 0.56 percent as the dollar was quoted at N1,136.04 on Monday, stronger than N1,142.38 quoted on Friday at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).

The intraday high closed at N1,227 per dollar on Monday, stronger than N1,265/$ closed on Friday. The intraday low also closed strong at N1,000 on Monday, stronger than N1,100 on Friday.

Dollar supply by willing buyers and willing sellers dropped by 10.57 percent to $251.60 million on Monday from $281.34 million recorded on Friday at the NAFEM.

Nigeria’s currency on Monday showed signs of appreciating to N1,000 before the end of the week as it rose to N1,115 on the black market. Some traders were quoting dollars at the rate of N1,118 and N1,120 on the parallel market on Monday.