Naira Appreciates at P2P, I&E, Black Market Amid FX Pressure

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira appreciated against the Dollar in the Peer-2-Peer (P2P), black market, and the Investors and Exporters (I&E) windows of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Friday, May 12.

In the peer-to-peer, the local currency gained N2 against the US Dollar during the session to sell at N756/$1 versus the previous day’s value of N758/$1.

Also, in the parallel market, the Nigerian currency improved its value by N1 against the greenback to trade at N741/$1 compared with Thursday’s closing rate of N742/$1.

It was the same outcome at the I&E segment of the market as it domestic currency gained 40 Kobo or 0.09 per cent against the Dollar to close at N462.33/$1 compared with the preceding day’s exchange rate of N462.73/$1 despite high demand for forex.

Data from FMDQ Securities Exchange showed that the value of FX transactions at the official market stood at $161.91 million, lower than the $178.68 million recorded in the previous day by $16.77 million or 9.4 per cent.

In the interbank segment, the Naira was strengthened against the Pound Sterling yesterday by 88 Kobo to close at N580.62/£1 versus the previous day’s rate of N581.50/£1 and against the Euro, it gained 82 Kobo to quote at N504.14/€1 versus the preceding rate of N504.96/€1.

In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) moved to a fresh seven-week low on Friday, as prices moved below the $27,000 level, losing 0.9 per cent to trade at $26,713.17, while its rival, Ethereum (ETH), gained 0.5 per cent to sell at $1,802.60.

Solana (SOL) rose during the session by 3.6 per cent to $20.86, Cardano (ADA) jumped by 2.2 per cent to $0.3679, Ripple (XRP) recorded a 1.9 per cent growth to trade at $0.4282, Dogecoin (DOGE) improved by 0.5 per cent to $0.0721, and Binance Coin (BNB) added 0.2 per cent to sell for $307.84.

However, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 0.4 per cent to trade at $80.36, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and Binance USD (BUSD) closed flat at $1.00 each.