Naira Appreciates 0.19% to N1,453/$1 at Official Forex Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira opened the week on a positive note as its value improved against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N2.88 or 0.19 per cent on Monday, November 24 to N1,453.84/$1 from the N1,456.72/$1 it ended last Friday.

However, the domestic currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official forex market during the session by N1.61 to close at N1,907.59/£1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,905.98/£1, but gained 12 Kobo against the Euro to finish at N1,678.17/€1 versus the previous trading day’s N1,678.29/€1.

The exchange rate of the local currency against the greenback at GTBank was weaker on the first trading session of the week by N3 to settle at N1,460/$1 versus N1,457/$1, but traded flat at the parallel market window.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) injected $250 million to boost the Naira amidst rising demand for the greenback, driven by a series of foreign payment requests from companies with external deals.

The interventions by the apex bank also overturns capped sales of $50 million in recent weeks. This is expected to redirect volatility and demand-supply dynamics in Nigeria’s FX market continued to cause supply-demand imbalances.

The currency’s softness underscores persistent demand pressures and the structural inefficiencies that continue to weigh on price discovery across Nigeria’s FX ecosystem, Cowry Asset Limited said in a note.

As for the cryptocurrency market, it gained, with the market erasing doubts as odds swung decisively toward a December rate cut over the weekend, helping crypto markets firm up after a volatile stretch.

New York Fed President John Williams said on Friday there is still room to adjust policy in the near term, putting a potential rate cut in December back on the table.

Ripple (XRP) rose by 8.1 per cent to $2.23, Solana (SOL) went up by 5.5 per cent to $137.88, Ethereum (ETH) improved by 3.2 per cent to $2,922.01, Dogecoin (DOGE) increased by 2.9 per cent to $0.1506, and Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 2.1 per cent to $0.4211.

Further, Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1.5 per cent to close at $87,984.49, Binance Coin (BNB) expanded by 0.9 per cent to $861.00, and Litecoin (LTC) grew by 0.8 per cent to 84.39, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.