By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira depreciated against the US Dollar across the windows of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Thursday, January 25, shedding N18.72 or 2.1 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).
Business Post reports that the local currency traded against its American counterpart during the session at N900.96/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N882.24/$1.
However, it gained N8.61 against the Pound Sterling in the spot market yesterday to quote at N1,131.28/£1 versus its previous rate of N1141.89/£1 and against the Euro, it appreciated by N7.67 to finish at N969.92/€1 versus Wednesday’s closing price of N977.59/€1.
The value of forex supply into the official market significantly increased on Thursday by 103.5 per cent or $58.59 million to $115.19 million from the $56.60 million achieved in the preceding session.
In the black market, the Nigerian currency weakened against the greenback on Thursday by N20 to sell for N1,400/$1, in contrast to the N1,380/$1 it quoted in the midweek session.
The domestic currency suffered a N15 against the American currency in the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) segment of the FX market to finish at N1,393/$1 versus N1,378/$1 it closed on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish yesterday, with Bitcoin rising by 0.5 per cent to $40,158.40 as markets reacted to the latest US economic numbers which showed that gross domestic product, a measure of all the goods and services produced, increased at 3.3 per cent annualized rate in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to data adjusted seasonally and for inflation.
Also, Ethereum (ETH) gained 0.6 per cent to sell at $2,227.47, Binance Coin (BNB) appreciated by 1.5 per cent to $293.74, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 0.8 per cent to $0.0784, Litecoin (LTC) rose by 0.3 per cent to $65.70, and Solana (SOL) grew by 0.2 per cent to $88.08.
However, Ripple (XRP) dropped 0.2 per cent to trade at $0.5144, Cardano (ADA) slid by 0.1 per cent to $0.4701, and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) depreciated by 0.01 per cent to $0.9995, while the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00.
Modupe Gbadeyanka