By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Naira to the US Dollar depreciated heavily by N13 or 1.8 per cent at the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Thursday, July 28, trading at N720/$1 compared to N707/$1 on Wednesday as the FX crisis in the country worsens.
Also, at the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira lost N5 against the greenback to sell for N710/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N705/$1. At midday, the exchange rate was N715/$1 and by evening, it closed at N710/$1.
Meanwhile, the local currency found succour in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the FX market, appreciating by N3.80 or 0.88 per cent to close at N426.20/$1 versus Wednesday’s value of N430/$1.
This came as the daily turnover published on FMDQ Securities Exchange stood at $129.13 million, 1.9 per cent or $2.44 million higher than the $126.69 million achieved the day before.
In the interbank segment of the market, the Naira witnessed a downward movement of N3.07 against the Pound Sterling as it closed at N501.73/£1 versus the preceding day’s N498.66/£1 and against the Euro, the local currency lost 56 Kobo to close at N422.19/€1 in contrast to Wednesday’s rate of N421.63/€1.
In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin maintained its bull run as it surpassed the $24,000 mark after gaining 3.8 per cent to sell for $24,051.89.
Buying interest in cryptos picked up sharply on Wednesday following the US Federal Reserve’s decision to hike interest rates by 75 basis points.
Solana (SOL) was the highest mover as it appreciated by 10.5 per cent to $43.98, Litecoin (LTC) went up by 7.4 per cent to trade at $64.27, and Dogecoin (DOGE) saw a 7.1 per cent jump to trade $0.0714.
Ripple (XRP) recorded a 5.8 per cent rise to trade at $0.3791, Cardano (ADA) also added 5.8 per cent to quote at $0.5368, Ethereum (ETH) grew by 5.7 per cent to sell at $1,736.02, while Binance Coin (BNB) recorded a 4.3 per cent gain to settle at $280.94.
However, TerraClassicUSD (USTC) further moved downward by 1.2 per cent to sell for $0.0371, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) retained its previous day’s value of $1.00.
