Drop in FX Demand Strengthens Naira Against Dollar by 0.13%

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira put up a good fight against the United States Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Wednesday, December 15, thanks to a decline in the demand for FX at the session.

Data revealed that the domestic currency appreciated by 0.13 per cent or 55 kobo yesterday to close at N414.25/$1 compared to N414.80/$1 it was traded on Tuesday.

As earlier stated, the lower turnover at the I&E was mainly responsible for this, though the availability of forex to meet the demand also played a key part.

FMDQ Securities Exchange said the total value of transactions at the investors’ segment stood at $177.60 million, 112.8 per cent or $200.28 million lower than the $377.88 million recorded the day before.

But at the interbank window, the Naira depreciated against the American currency at the midweek trading session as it lost 10 kobo to trade at N411.83/$1 versus N411.73/$1 it was traded a day earlier.

In the same vein, the local currency lost 10 kobo against the Pound Sterling to sell for N546.05/£1 in contrast to N545.95/£1 of the preceding day but the Nigerian currency appreciated against the Euro by 17 kobo to trade at N464.34/€1 in contrast to N464.51/$1 it was sold at the preceding session.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market witnessed was mixed on Wednesday and from the 10 key cryptos tracked by Business Post on the various trading platforms, six pointed southwards.

Ethereum (ETH) fell by 4.6 per cent to trade at N2,165,630.29, Ripple (XRP) witnessed a 1.2 per cent fall to N543.44, Binance Coin (BNB) lost 0.5 per cent to sell at N218,573.33, Litecoin (LTC) fell by 0.4 per cent to N87,894.00, Dogecoin (DOGE) also dropped 0.4 per cent to trade at N108.34, while Cardano (ADA) retreated by 0.2 per cent to N758.63.

But Dash (DASH) appreciated by 2.6 per cent to trade at N76,707.09, Bitcoin (BTC) grew by 6.7 per cent to sell at N28,014,282.28, the US Dollar Tether (USDT) moved up by 0.5 per cent to sell for N582.93, while Tron (TRX) made a 0.2 per cent addition to close at N50.88.