Naira unchanged on Shell’s dollar sale

The naira was unchanged at 162.90 naira to the dollar at Monday’s market close, supported by dollar sales from the local unit of Royal Dutch Shell.

The naira had initially eased to 163.05 against the U.S. dollar, dealers said, but recovered after Shell sold an undisclosed amount of dollars to some lenders.

“Demand was balanced with dollar flow from Shell … to keep the naira at the same level it closed on Friday,” one dealer said, adding that the local units of two foreign banks were buying hard currency for their clients on Monday.

Dealers expect the naira to remain stable this week, trading around the 163 mark on possible central bank intervention as more oil companies make their regular month-end oil dollar sales.