Naira Gains Marginally, Closes at N366/$

• Naira Gains Marginally, Closes at N366/$

The Naira appreciated slightly on Monday after trading at N369 for two weeks.

The local currency gained N3 from N369 it traded last week to close at N366 per U.S. dollar on Monday.

This was after the Central Bank of Nigeria intervened in the foreign exchange market.

The apex bank has been injecting between $250 million and $300 million into the various segments of the foreign exchange market to help support the Naira and boost business activities.

On Monday, the CBN sold another $195 million into the forex market.

Breaking down the disbursement, a total of $100 million was injected into the interbank foreign exchange segment, while the small and medium enterprises and invisible segments were appropriated $50 million and $45 million respectively.

The central bank had earlier threatened to sanction any Deposit Money Bank in breach of its March 3, 2017, directive, which mandates them to open teller points for retail foreign exchange transactions and to have electronic display boards in their branches showing rates of all their currencies.

The Nigerian crude oil, Brent crude, rose to a 26-month high on Monday following a threat by the Turkish government to block Iraqi Kurdistan’s crude shipments through its territory for going through with a controversial referendum.

Brent gained 0.46 percent to $58.70 a barrel, up $8 from $50.73 a barrel recorded a month ago when Hurricanes hit US producers.

The U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose by 0.13 percent this week to $52.31 at 11:11 pm Nigerian time.