The naira gained against the U.S. dollar at both the unofficial and official market segments on Friday, data from both market sessions showed.

According to data recorded on abokiFX.com, a website that collates parallel rates in Lagos, the local unit closed at N515.00 per $1 at the black market window on Friday.

This represents a N5.00 or 1.00 per cent appreciation from the N520.00 rate it traded in the previous session on Thursday, after witnessing an all-time devaluation record on Wednesday as Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stopped forex sales to Bureau De Change operators.

The naira, which opened at the black market window at N520.00 per $1 dollar, appreciated to N517.00 at noon before settling at N515.00 at the close of business on Friday.

Similarly, the domestic unit gained slightly against the U.S dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window also known as the Nafex rates on Friday.

Data posted on the FMDQ Security Exchange where forex is officially traded showed that the naira closed at N411.44 per $1.

This implies a N0.23 or 0.1 per cent appreciation from the N411.67 rate it traded in the previous session on Thursday.

The currency saw an intraday high of N400.00 and a low of N412.25 before closing at N411.44 on Friday.

The market segment forex supply skyrocketed by 83.51 per cent, with $121.08 million posted at the end of the market session as against the $58.07 million recorded in the previous session on Thursday.

This leaves the spread between the official market and the unofficial market rates at N103.56, with a disparity of 20.11 per cent as of the close of business Friday.

PT