Naira Appreciates to N393.33/$1 at I&E, N474/$1 at Black Market

By Adedapo Adesanya, Ahmed Rahma

The Naira appreciated by 0.17 per cent or 67 kobo against the US Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the foreign exchange market on Wednesday, January 13.

During the session, the local currency closed at N393.33/$1 compared with N394/$1 it traded on Tuesday and this was influenced by the low trades witnessed at the market window.

According to data obtained by Business Post from FMDQ Securities Exchange, transactions worth N17.23 million were recorded at the I&E as against the N36.07 million recorded a day earlier, indicating a N18.84 million or 52.2 per cent decrease in the market turnover.

Also, at the unregulated segment of the FX market yesterday, the local currency closed stronger against the US Dollar after it appreciated by N1 to quote at N474/$1 versus N475/$1 it did on Tuesday.

However, at the same black market, the Naira closed flat against the Pound Sterling and the Euro at N637/£1 and N580/€1 respectively.

It was the usual similar outcome at the Bureaux De Change (BDC) window of the market as the domestic currency traded flat against the greenback on Wednesday at N395/$1.

Furthermore, the value of the Nigerian currency compared with its American counterpart remained unchanged at the interbank segment N379/$1.

Meanwhile, at the cryptocurrency market yesterday, investors had reasons to smile as most of the digital currencies at the space finished stronger.

The popular Bitcoin made a 9.1 per cent appreciation to trade at N17,798,000 banking on investors confidence that the rally which subsided last week will continue soon.

Ethereum gained 6.1 per cent to sell at N535,894, Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 7.5 per cent to trade at N70,026, the value of Dash (DASH) rose by 0.1 per cent to N62,279, Tron (TRX) moved up by 2.1 per cent to sell for N14.39.

However, Ripple (XRP) could not hold its recent strength as it dipped by 0.6 per cent to sell at N139.30, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) slid by 1.0 per cent to sell at N14.39.