Naira extends gain at official market

Naira recorded a marginal gain against the U.S. dollar at the official market on Wednesday, extending its appreciation to a second day.

According to data published by FMDQ, where forex is officially traded, the naira closed at N418.00 to a dollar on Wednesday.

This represents a N1.00 or 0.24 per cent gain from N419.00 it exchanged hands with the greenback currency in the previous session on Tuesday.

Since the commencement of trading this week, the weakest rate the naira has touched is N420.33 to a dollar (on Monday), while N418.00 per $1 is the highest rate the domestic unit has traded this week so far.

Within the past weeks, the naira has been hovering within N418.00—420.00 and above mark at the official window.

On Wednesday, the naira which opened at N417.79 jumped to an intraday high of N413.00 and a low of N444.00 before closing at N418.00 per $1 on Wednesday –third business day of the week.

Forex supply increased by 24.43 per cent with $ 108.33 million recorded at the close of business on Wednesday against the $87.06 million posted in the previous session on Tuesday.

In Uyo black market, the naira was exchanged at N603.00 and sold at N607.00 to a dollar on Wednesday.

By implication, the spread between the spot market (N418.00) and the parallel market (N603.00) is pegged at N185.00 leaving a margin of 30.7 per cent.