LAGOS, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Nigeria's naira eased onWednesday as demand for U.S. dollars overcame an intervention bythe central bank and an injection of dollars by a major oilfirm.
The naira closed at 164.75 to the greenback, weaker thanTuesday's close of 164.10 naira.
Dealers said the Nigerian central bank and the local unit ofRoyal Dutch Shell sold an undisclosed amount of hardcurrency to lenders. The intervention did not help.
"Demand was strong ... while the dollar sales by both thecentral bank and Shell was not enough to calm the market," onedealer said.
On Monday, the naira dropped to its weakest in more than twoyears, but it recovered the following day after the central bankintervened.
"Unless the central bank sustains its intervention, thenaira could weaken to 165 and above in the coming days," anotherdealer said.
