By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated against the Dollar at the Peer-2-Peer (P2P) segment of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday, May 19, amid headwinds, including forex scarcity and news of another devaluation of the local currency by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
This was spurred by the weakening of the Nigerian Naira to N465/$1 on Wednesday in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the FX market, though it appreciated the next day to N463.00/$1.
Yesterday, the domestic currency maintained stability against the greenback in the official market as its value remained at N463.00/$1 at the close of business, amid a decline in the forex turnover for the trading session by 43.6 per cent or $70.99 million to $91.81 million from the preceding session’s $162.80 million.
Back to the P2P market, the local currency was strengthened against the US Dollar on Friday by N5 to sell at N773/$1 compared to the preceding day’s value of N778/$1.
However, in the black market, the Naira depreciated against the American Dollar yesterday by N7 to trade at N758/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N751/$1.
In the interbank segment, the Naira closed flat against the British Pound Sterling and the Euro during the session at N574.09/£1 and N498.94/€1, respectively.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market treaded upward on Friday as markets reacted to a halt in the conversation about raising the world’s largest economy, the US debt ceiling.
Without a deal, the US could default on its $31.4 trillion debt, an unprecedented development that would mean the government could not borrow any more money or pay all of its bills.
The US Treasury Department has warned that a default could begin on June 1.
Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 0.2 per cent to sell at $26,860.42, Cardano (ADA) lost 1.7 per cent to trade at $0.3646, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 1.6 per cent to $90.87, and Solana (SOL) slumped by 1.2 per cent to $20.17.
Further, Binance Coin (BNB) recorded a 0.5 per cent fall to sell at $308.30, Dogecoin (DOGE) depreciated by 0.3 per cent to trade at $0.0734, and Ripple (XRP) dropped by 0.04 per cent to trade at $0.4638.
But Ethereum (ETH) made a 0.3 per cent appreciation to sell at $1,809.82, while the United States Tether (USDT) and Binance USD (BUSD) closed flat at $1.00 each.
Modupe Gbadeyanka