Naira Tumbles to N1,471/$1 at Official Market, N1,480/$1 at Black Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Tuesday as its value further depreciated against the United States Dollar in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) landscape due to renewed forex demand pressure associated with this period.

In a note, Coronation Merchant Bank research unit said activity levels moderated as FX inflows declined to $835.60 million versus $1.18 billion in the prior week, and this may taper expectations that local currency may trade within the N1,470 and N1,480 range this week.

Recent strike action by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) impacted oil production by up to 200,000 barrels per day, which is responsible for a considerable amount of foreign earnings.

At the black market yesterday, the domestic currency lost N5 against the greenback to settle at N1,480/$1, in contrast to the N1,475/$1 it was traded on Monday.

In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) segment, the local currency tumbled against the Dollar during the session by 83 Kobo or 0.06 per cent to close at N1,471.09/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,470.26/$1.

However, the Naira appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N2.27 to N1,974.64/£1 from N1,976.91/£1, and gained N1.82 against the Euro to finish at N1,716.47/€1 versus N1,718.29/€1.

At GTBank, the exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar remained unchanged at N1,475/$1.

As for the cryptocurrency market, it was under pressure due to a strengthening of the US Dollar index, which weighs the American currency against other currencies. It hit 98.90 points for the first time since early August. Strength in the index always weigh on Dollar-denominated assets like cryptocurrency

Dogecoin (DOGE) slumped by 7.5 per cent to $0.2454, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 6.4 per cent to $0.8141, Solana (SOL) fell by 5.8 per cent to $219.71, Ethereum (ETH) dropped 5.4 per cent to sell at $4,448.88, Ripple (XRP) shrank by 4.4 per cent to $2.85, Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 2.4 per cent to $121,407.32, and Litecoin (LTC) also slid by 2.4 per cent to $115.90.

But, Binance Coin (BNB) appreciated by 2.5 per cent to $1,286.12, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained at $1.00 each.