Naira Rises on Dollar at NAFEM, Black Market as American Currency Weakens Globally

The Naira rose at the official market, the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) as well as at the unofficial parallel market on Tuesday, giving a lifeline to the local currency which latched on to a weaker US Dollar in the global market.

The local currency gained 0.33 percent on the US Dollar at the official market to exchange at N1,671.32 /$1 on Tuesday, November 5 amid an improvement in supply at the official market.

The local currency rose on the American currency by N5.58 versus N1,676.90/$1 which it closed at the previous session on Monday.

Data showed a jump in supply as the turnover published on the FMDQ Group website stood at $218.77 million. This indicated that the session’s turnover fell by 175.3 percent, indicating an appreciation of $139.30 million compared to the $79.47 million published in the last trading session.

In the black market, the Naira added 52 Kobo against the greenback to close at N1,708.35 to the US Dollar compared to N1,708.87/$1 it closed on Monday.

Traders had adjusted their position, leading to a weaker position for the Dollar as voters went to the polls to choose the 47th president of the US.

There was a flat outcome for the Naira against the Pound Sterling but it depreciated against the Euro in the official market. The domestic currency closed on the British currency at N2,160.63/£1.

Meanwhile, against the Euro, the Nigerian currency closed at N1,819.86/€1 versus N1,816.40/€1, indicating an N3.46 depreciation.

The Naira gained against the British currency in the black market as it added by 93 Kobo to sell at N2,216.46/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N2,217.39/£1.

However, it followed a different pattern against the Euro as it depreciated N1.65 to quote at N1,864.57/€1 versus the previous day’s rate of N1,862.98/€1 and it extended losses against the Canadian Dollar as it depreciated further by N2.29 to close at N1,224.62 per Canadian Dollar, compared to Monday’s N1,222.33 per CAD.