Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira improved its value against the United States Dollar in the official market, the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), on Tuesday, April 30 for the first time in almost two weeks after a weakening spree that sparked panic in some quarters.
At the spot market yesterday, the domestic currency appreciated against the greenback by 1.9 per cent or N28.15 to close at N1,390.96/$1, in contrast to the preceding day’s N1,419.11/$1, according to data obtained from the FMDQ Securities Exchange.
But the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the official market for another trading session, closing at N1,453.07/£1 and N1,247.03/€1, respectively.
A boost in FX supply to the market contributed to the strengthening of the local currency yesterday, with the forex turnover soaring by 52.4 per cent or $77.53 million to $225.36 million from the previous session’s $147.83 million.
A look at the parallel market revealed that the Naira gained N20 against the US Dollar yesterday to settle at N1,380/$1 compared with Monday’s closing rate of N1,400/$1.
Meanwhile, the digital currency market was in red on Tuesday due to selling pressure during European hours after data showed poor uptake for Hong Kong’s newly listed exchange-traded funds tied to bitcoin and ether, with Bitcoin (BTC) falling by 5.1 per cent to $59,964.35.
Solana (SOL) recorded the biggest fall after it declined by 7.6 per cent to trade at $124.89, followed by Dogecoin (DOGE), which depreciated by 7.5 per cent to sell at $0.1314, and Ethereum (ETH) slid by 5.6 per cent to $2,986.31.
Further, Binance Coin (BNB) weakened by 4.7 per cent to trade at $569.43, Litecoin (LTC) dropped 4.2 per cent to quote at $79.41, Cardano (ADA) went down by 2.6 per cent to close at $0.4415, Ripple (XRP) slumped by 2.2 per cent to finish at $0.5031, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
