Naira Depreciates Against Dollar, Others at Parallel Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

After maintaining stability over the course of the past one week, the Naira weakened against the US Dollar, the Pound Sterling and the Euro at the parallel market segment of the foreign exchange market on Friday, January 8.

At the black market, the local currency lost N2 against the US Dollar to quote at N472/$1 in contrast to N470/$1 it traded on Thursday.

It was the same outcome for the Naira against the Pound and the Euro at the unregulated segment of the forex market.

The domestic currency depreciated by N2 against the British currency to sell at N630/£1 compared with N628/£1 it was sold a day earlier. It also declined by N2 against the Euro as it closed at N575/€1 in contrast to the previous rate of N573/$1.

However, at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window, the local currency extended its gain against the greenback with a price appreciation of 27 kobo or 0.04 per cent to trade at N393.50/$1 versus N393.67/$1 it sold the day before.

It was observed that the availability of FX at the market yesterday helped the Naira to gain strength, despite the pressure.

The demand for the greenback grew during the session by 102.5 per cent or $32.22 million to $65.63 million from $32.41 million recorded on Thursday.

At the Bureaux De Change (BDC) segment of the market, data from the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) showed that the Nigerian currency closed flat against the American currency at N395/$1.

In the same vein, the Naira maintained stability against the American currency on Friday at the interbank window of the forex market, closing at N379/$1.

Meanwhile, at the cryptocurrency market, he Bitcoin’s bullish run continued yesterday as it appreciated by 4.8 per cent to trade at N19,385,912, banking on renewed interest from retailers around the world.

Ethereum also showed a sign of strength as it made a 3.2 per cent gain to sell at N575,051, Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 2.0 per cent to trade at N83,147.36, Tron (TRX) rose by 3.7 per cent to sell at N14.94, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) gained 1.2 per cent to sell for N482.97.

However, Dash (DASH) depreciated by 4.4 per cent to sell at N46,216.9, while Ripple (XRP) declined by 2.3 per cent to trade at N156.25.