Naira Bounces Back at Black Market With N5 Gain

By Adedapo Adesanya

Against all odds, the Naira came back stronger against the US Dollar at the parallel market on Wednesday, December 9, gaining N5 at the session to trade at N478/$1 compared with N483/$1 it was sold on Tuesday.

But against the British Pound Sterling and the Euro, the local currency traded flat yesterday at the black market at N620/£1 and N570/€1 respectively.

The volatility seen lately in the FX market could be blamed on hoarding amid speculation that the value of the Naira could further drop.

But the ability of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to supply enough forex to meet the demands of customers at the regulated channels eased the pressure on the Naira at the parallel market yesterday.

According to data obtained by Business Post, the domestic currency maintained stability against the Dollar at the interbank window yesterday to close at N379/$1.

Also, the Nigerian currency sustained stability against the greenback at the Bureaux De Change (BDC) segment during the midweek trading day to sell at N395/$1.

In addition, the Naira had a positive outcome against the United States Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window on Wednesday, gaining 23 kobo or 0.08 per cent to trade at N394.67/$1 compared with N395/$1 it was exchanged on Tuesday at the same window.

One of the factors responsible for this was the decline in the request for FX at the window as the day’s turnover reduced by 22.9 per cent or $21.19 million to $71.24 million from $92.43 million.

At the digital currency market, this went in different directions with the Bitcoin falling by 0.7 per cent to sell at N8,850,031.50, the Dash (DASH) depreciating by 3.7 per cent to N45,011.59 and the Litecoin losing 0.4 per cent to sell at N37,843.84.

However, the Ethereum (ETH) gained 0.5 per cent to trade at 275,999.99, the Ripple (RPX) appreciated by 1.5 per cent to trade at N279.96, the Tron (TRX) rose by 0.6 per cent to sell at N13.99, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) improved by 0.5 per cent to finish at N485.15.