By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira halted its recent weakening cycle against the US Dollar as it appreciated by 1.36 per cent or N21.56 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, August 15.
Business Post reports that the value of the Naira to the Dollar closed at N1,564.48/$1 yesterday, in contrast to the preceding day’s N1,586.04/$1.
The appreciation coincided the roadshow organised yesterday by the Debt Management Office (DMO) to prepare investors for the first-ever Dollar bond on the domestic market worth $500 million next Monday designed to fund the budget deficit and strengthen the battered Naira.
It was observed that the domestic currency closed flat against the Pound Sterling and the Euro at the spot market during the session at N2,029.71/£1 and N1,742.48/€1, respectively.
The value of FX transactions on Thursday, according to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange, went up by 61.5 per cent or $56.86 million to $149.25 million from the preceding session’s $92.39 million.
Also, the value of the Naira to the American Dollar in the parallel market remained unchanged yesterday at N1,600/$1.
Meanwhile, the digital currency market faltered on Thursday amid expectations that the US Federal Reserve will cut rates in September. While past monetary easing campaigns have proven to be a boon for crypto, prices have failed to respond so far in this cycle.
Ethereum (ETH) dropped 3.4 per cent to $2,563.31, Cardano (ADA) saw its value fall by 3.2 per cent to settle at $0.3229, Dogecoin’s (DOGE) depreciated by 3.0 per cent to sell at $0.0989, and Bitcoin (BTC) went down by 2.2 per cent to close at $57,462.35.
Further, Ripple (XRP) slid by 1.9 per cent to quote at $0.5565, Solana (SOL) made a 1.1 per cent depreciation to finish at $141.22, and Binance Coin (BNB) declined by 0.6 per cent to end at $518.12.
However, Litecoin (LTC) rose by 0.1 per cent to $64.42, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Dipo Olowookere