By Adedapo Adesanya
The domestic currency finished the week stronger, albeit marginally, by 8 kobo or 0.02 per cent against the US Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Friday, August 20.
At the specialised window, the local currency closed against the greenback at N411.67/$1 compared to N411.75/$1 it was sold at the previous session.
This occurred as FX demand dropped at the window as data obtained by Business Post from FMDQ Securities Exchange yesterday showed that the forex transactions stood at $57.19 million, 56.8 per cent or $75.12 million lower than the previous day’s $132.31 million.
However, at the black market, the Naira retained its previous exchange rate against the Dollar at N520/$1 and also closed flat against the Pound Sterling at N708/£1 but lost N1 against the Euro to close at N606/€1 versus N607/€1 it quoted on Thursday.
At the interbank window of the forex market, where the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sell the greenback to commercial banks for government transactions, the exchange rate remained unchanged on Friday at N410.13/$1.
Cryptos Surge in Value
Meanwhile, at the digital currency market yesterday, there was a surge in the value of cryptos as the price of Dash (DASH) rose by 9.1 per cent to trade at N113,510.40.
Ripple (XRP) grew by 8.7 per cent to sell at N634.06, Bitcoin (BTC) surged by 8.3 per cent to quote at N25,083,218.43, Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 7.2 per cent to close at N96,458.08, Tron (TRX) rose by 1.9 per cent to N46.72, while Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to sell for N1,627,000.01.
However, the US Dollar Tether (USDT) went down on Friday by 1.5 per cent to sell for N516.96.