Business
Naira appreciates further at official market as daily FX turnover hits $195.13m
The Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange (NAFEM) saw a notable appreciation on Tuesday, with the closing rate standing at N1560.57 to $1.
This represents a significant gain of N36.67 or 2.35% from Monday’s closing rate of N1,597.24/$1.
Additionally, the Naira maintained its position below the N1,600/$1 mark for the second day in a row, a threshold it had previously sustained for nine days since March 5th, 2024.
The trading activity on Tuesday also reflected an increase, with the daily turnover reaching $195.13 million, marking a substantial 38.93% rise from the $140.45 million recorded on Monday.
Furthermore, data from FMDQ Securities reveals that there has been an impressive increase of 4.34% or $1.43 billion in daily turnover from the beginning of the year to March 18th, 2024.
READ ALSO: Naira trades below N1,600 to a dollar at official market
On Tuesday, the naira experienced varied outcomes against key international currencies within the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window.
The I&E FX window observed a peak spot rate of N1626.5/$1 and a trough of N1,415.00, reflecting a N211.5/$1 fluctuation.
In the parallel market, the naira remained stable, trading close to the N1,600 per dollar benchmark. The national currency saw a 0.50% appreciation against the US dollar on Tuesday, improving from the prior rate of N1,608/$1.
Conversely, against the pound sterling, there was a sterling depreciation of 0.25%, with the closing rate of N2,025/£1 compared to the previous N2,030/£1.
Against the euro, however, the naira achieved a 0.29% gain, ending at N1,720/€1 from Monday’s rate of N1,725/€1.
The country’s foreign reserves witnessed a notable increment of $30.04 million as of March 18, 2024, totaling $34.450 billion—a marginal 0.09% increase from the preceding day’s reserves of $34.420 billion. The reserves have been on a positive trend for 21 days (roughly three weeks), commencing from February 13, 2024.