Forex: How The Decline In Demand Pushes Naira To N740/$ At Parallel Market

The Nigerian currency, Naira on Friday strengthened further against the US Dollar at the unofficial forex market to trade at N740 per dollar, representing an appreciation of N35 or 4.5 per cent from the N775 traded the previous week.

This was because demand for the dollar at the unofficial has been on a downward trend, as parallel market traders put the buying price of the dollar at N725 and the selling price at N740, leaving a profit margin of N15.

However, the local currency depreciated by 0.12 percent at the official market to close at N445.83 on Thursday, according to details on FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, a platform that oversees official foreign exchange trading in Nigeria.

Data from the platform showed that while the market opened with an exchange rate of N422 to the dollar, the highest price recorded was N447/$ within the day’s trading before it settled at N445.83.

A total of $99.5 million was traded in foreign exchange at the official investors and exporters window (I & E) window.

Also, the value of the naira appreciated against the US dollar at the cryptocurrency peer-to-peer market, closing at a minimum of N743/$1 on Thursday afternoon, representing a 1.8 per cent gain from N757/$1 recorded on Wednesday, 30th November 2022.

Meanwhile, the exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar had closed on Wednesday at an appreciable rate of N767 per dollar, which was better than N770/$1 recorded on Tuesday and N773/$1 traded on Monday.

Also, the value of the naira appreciated against the US dollar on Wednesday at the cryptocurrency peer-to-peer market, closing at a minimum of N757/$1. This represents a 1.3 per cent gain from N767/$1 that was recorded in the previous trading session.