By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira closed stronger on the last trading day of this week by appreciating by N2 or 0.48 per cent against the United States Dollar on Friday, May 6 at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the foreign exchange market.
Data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange showed that the Naira was exchanged by FX buyers yesterday at N417.00/$1 compared with the preceding day’s value of N419.00/$1 amid low forex trades during the session.
Business Post reports that the value of FX trades at the I&E window on Friday stood at $88.43 million compared with the $162.70 million achieved a day earlier, representing a decline by $74.27 million or 45.65 per cent. The low turnover gave the domestic currency a breathing space and eased off the pressure on it.
Also, at the interbank window, the Nigerian Naira appreciated by N2.6 against the Pound Sterling to trade at N513.35/£1 compared to the previously traded rate of N515.95/£1 but lost 24 kobo against the Euro to close at N439.46/€1 compared with the previously quoted rate of N439.22/€1.
At the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) segment, the local currency closed flat against the American currency yesterday at N587/$1.
Meanwhile, the crypto market further came under pressure on Friday, with the bumping up of interest rates in the US still having a negative impact on it.
Solana (SOL) lost 3.3 per cent to trade at N50,600, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 2.1 per cent to sell at N460, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 2.0 per cent to N1,613,025, Dogecoin (DOGE) slide 1.8 per cent to trade at N74.60, Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 0.8 per cent to N22,410,478, Litecoin (LTC) dropped 0.7 per cent to trade at N60,300, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) contracted by 0.1 per cent to N613.03.
But Ripple (XRP) went up by 0.6 per cent to quote at N363.50, Dash (DASH) gained 0.4 per cent to sell for N51,993.38, while Binance Coin (BNB) recorded a 0.2 per cent increase to settle at N230,912.00.
Modupe Gbadeyanka