Naira down to four-month low against dollar

Naira hit a four-month low Thursday, depreciating 0.30 per cent against the U.S. dollar at the official market.

The currency which opened trading at N416.50 closed at N420.00 to a dollar at the close of business on Thursday, data published by FMDQ, where forex is officially traded showed.

This represents a N1.25 or 0.30 per cent devaluation from N418.75 it traded in the previous market session on Wednesday.

The naira hovered within an intraday high of N412.38 and slipped to a low of N444.00 before closing at N420.00 per $1 on Thursday.

This is the weakest rate the naira exchanged officially with the dollar in nearly five months after closing at N422.67 to a dollar on January 5, early this year.

Within the past four months, the currency has been trading between the range of N417.00-N419.00 and above mark before settling at N420.00 at the close of sales Thursday.

Forex supply jumped by 38.20 per cent with $160.00 million recorded at the close of business on Thursday against the $115.78 million posted in the previous session Wednesday.

Similarly, the local currency pushed towards N600.00 to a dollar at the parallel market on Thursday.

Uyo currency dealers exchanged the naira at N592.00 and sold N596.00 to a dollar, while Abuja black market dealers at Wuse Zone 4 said the currency was exchanged at N590.00 and sold at N593.00 per $1 on Thursday.