Naira posts mixed fortunes in Nigerian currency markets

The Nigerian naira remained flat at N363 to the dollar in the parallel market, but continued to dip in value at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window where it exchanged at N361.61 to the dollar.

Total turnover in the I& E window surged 171.62 percent to $341.45 million, with trades executed within the N358-N363/$ range.

The overnight lending rate eased 14,775 bps to 16.42 percent, from 164.17 percent yesterday, in the absence of any significant outflows at the money market.

Activities in the treasury bills market were bullish, as average yield moderated by 73 bps, to close at 12.91 percent. Yields contracted at the short (-24 bps), mid (-68 bps), and long (-120 bps) ends of the curve, driven by demand for the 86DTM (-43 bps), 170DTM (-88 bps), and 324DTM (-177 bps) bills, respectively.

At tomorrow (Wednesday’s) NTB auction, the CBN is expected to offer N33.84 billion – N3.38 billion of the 91-day, N16.92 billion of the 182-day, and N13.54 billion of the 364-day – worth of bills to the market.

The bond market was also bullish, with average yield trending downwards by 5 bps to 13.16 percent. Yield across all ends (short: -4 bps, mid: -6 bps, and long: -5 bps) contracted, with the JAN-2022 (-14 bps), MAR-2027 (-9 bps), and MAR-2036 (-9 bps) bonds recording the most significant contractions, respectively.