Naira fell significantly against the US dollar in the official market on Tuesday, a day after the currency posted a slight gain in the spot market.
According to data published in the FMQ website where the currency is officially traded, the naira, which opened at N427.30, closed at N431.00 per dollar on Tuesday.
This represents a devaluation of N3.87 or 0.90 per cent of the N427.17 it traded in the previous session on Monday.
The coin swung to an intraday high of N414.00 and tumbled to a low of N444.00 before closing at N431.00 for $1 on Tuesday, the second trading day of the week.
Forex trading volume in the market on Tuesday plunged 35.40 percent to $58.03 million recorded at market close versus $89.79 million recorded in the previous session on Monday.
This is the weakest rate the currency has traded on the Nafex window this year. The new record is 0.2 percent weaker than the weakest rate of N430.33 the coin closed at on July 15.
Amid the shortage of foreign exchange, the local currency has been trading at weak rates in recent weeks and months in both the official and parallel market segments.
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Over the past six months, naira trades against the US dollar have been in the range of the N417 and N430.33 benchmarks before hitting a new low of N431.00 on the official market on Tuesday.
On the black market, moneychangers said the shortage of foreign currency pushed currency traders to change without a specific amount on Tuesday.
“People buy and sell as they please, I can’t tell you that this is the fixed amount that we trade today,” said Shuaibu, a forex trader at Uyo.
He said that naira was bought and sold between N670 and N685 and more.
“The market has spread out, people are just buying and selling anyway,” he added.
On the Abuja black market, currency dealers said they exchanged the naira for the green currency at N670.00 and up for a dollar on Tuesday.