By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Naira continued its free-fall against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, May 9 as it fell by 2.7 per cent or N38.67 to close at N1,459.73/$1 compared with the previous day’s rate of N1,421.06/$1, according to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange.
The value of the Nigerian currency further weakened during the session amid a weaker supply of foreign exchange (FX) to the currency market despite efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to scare speculators and hoarders.
This was evidenced in the value of forex transactions recorded yesterday in the spot market, $84.38 million, which is 48.8 per cent or $80.36 million lower than the $164.74 million achieved a day earlier.
However, the domestic currency put up a stronger performance against the Pound Sterling in the official market, as it appreciated by N8.21 to sell for N1,765.90/£1 versus the N1,774.11/£1 it was sold in the previous session.
In the same vein, the local currency improved its value against the Euro during the session by N1.64 to quote at N1,521.37/€1, in contrast to the preceding day’s value of N1,523.01/€1.
As for the parallel market, the Naira further suffered a N5 loss against the United States Dollar on Thursday, trading at N1,455/$1 compared with the midweek’s closing rate of N1,450/$1.
Meanwhile, the digital currency market rebounded, with Solana (SOL) growing by 5.6 per cent to trade at $152.62, as Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 2.0 per cent to $62,770.02, and Dogecoin (DOGE) appreciated by 1.9 per cent to sell at $0.1508.
Further, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 1.4 per cent to $83.08, Cardano (ADA) expanded by 1.1 per cent to $0.4645, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.8 per cent to $3,029 .01, and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) went up by 0.05 per cent to $0.9999.
But Ripple (XRP) slumped by 0.9 per cent to trade at $0.5142, and Binance Coin (BNB) fell by 0.8 per cent to $594.09, while the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00.
Modupe Gbadeyanka