Naira drops by 0.17% to close at N394.67/$ in I&E FX window

The naira at the Investors & Exporters Foreign Exchange ( I & E FX) window on Wednesday depreciated by 0.17 per cent to close at N394.67 as against the dollar.

The local currency, according to the FMDQ Exchange also closed down by 1.04per cent, and 1.10 per cent against the Euro and Pound to print at N466.05 and N516.69 respectively.

According to FMDQ Exchange, a total of $200.34 million was traded by investors & exporters on Wednesday.

However, the naira at the parallel market, appreciated by 0.35 per cent and 0.16 per cent against the euro and pound to close at N576 and N627 respectively, it closed down by 0.21 per cent to print at N476 vs the dollar.

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

Our correspondent gathered that naira at the interbank market of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) traded flat at N379.00 against the dollar.

Meanwhile, the money market rates were non-directional today as Open Buy Back rate increased by four basis points to 0.67 per cent, while the Overnight rate decreased by two basis points to 0.92per cent.

The bond market was somewhat negative today as yields increased at the long end of the curve. While we witnessed the yields on the 5yr and 7yr benchmark bonds close flat at 3.26 per cent and 4.86 per cent respectively, the yield on the 10yr benchmark bond inched up by 60basis points to 6.31 per cent.

“In the near term, we expect market activity to be influenced by liquidity levels and foreign investor participation,” analysts at Investementone Research said.