Naira improves marginally by 0.39% to close at N388/$ on investors FX window

Naira at the Investors & Exporters Foreign Exchange (I & EFX) inched up by 0.39 per cent against the dollar to close at N388.00 on Thursday.

The local currency closed down by 0.33 per cent and 0.30 per cent vs the Euro and Pound printing at N444.09 and N489.73 respectively.

At the parallel market, the Naira was flat against the Dollar and Euro printing at N470 and N515 respectively, while it lost by 0.88 per cent against the Pound to close at N575.

“Going forward, we expect the FX market to be dictated by heightened dollar demand and CBN FX policies,” analysts at investmentOne research added.

Money market rates fell on Thursday as Open buyback and Overnight rates crashed from 10.00 per cent and 10.79 per cent to 2.67 per cent and 3.42 per cent respectively.

The decline may not be unconnected with OMO maturities today, which could have eased system liquidity.

The bond market was slightly positive today as yields declined at the short and long end of the curve. While the yields on the 7yr and 10yr benchmark bonds inched up by two basis points and one basis points to close at 8.17 per cent and 8.80 per cent respectively, the yield on the 5yr benchmark bond closed flat at 5.67 per cent.

“In the near term, we expect market activity to be influenced by liquidity levels and foreign investor participation,” they added.