The Naira appreciated massively at the official and parallel foreign exchange markets on Friday to end the week on a good note.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) exchange market data showed that the Naira appreciated to N1,535 per dollar on Friday from N1,567 per dollar on Thursday.
This showed that the Naira gained N32 against the dollar compared to the N1,567 exchange rate on Thursday.
The dollar rate represents the lowest price the greenback has been sold since August 13 when the naira traded at N1,595/$.
In the first week of December, the naira experienced a positive outing in the parallel market.
According to traders in the parallel market, the local currency appreciated to N1,730/$ on Monday — from N1,735/$ traded on November 29.
The naira appreciated further, trading at N1,725/$ on Tuesday, and N1,695/$ on Wednesday.
However, on Thursday, the naira reversed the appreciation streak, declining to N1,715/$.
In the official window, the naira appreciated from December 2 to December 6.
The naira traded at N1,672 per dollar on November 29, however, data from the newly introduced electronic foreign exchange matching system (EFEMS) platform, showed that the local currency appreciated to N1,660/$ on Monday.
Naira extended its gains to Tuesday after settling at N1,625/$ at the close of business, before appreciating further to N1,608/$ on Wednesday and N1,567/$ on Thursday.
At the close of trading on Friday, the naira appreciated to N1,535/$
Meanwhile, the black market rate also gained sharply from as high as N1,640 to low N1,570/$1, with operators reporting an unusual scenario where there were more sellers struggling to find buyers.
According to sources who spoke to Nairametrics, “No one wanted to buy dollars,” indicating a fundamental shift in market sentiment.
According to Nairametrics, some sellers stated they offloaded for as low as N1,500/$1. Meanwhile some cryptocurrency platforms exchanged stablecoins for the naira at less than N1,500$1 via P2P platforms.
