Naira Drops 93 Kobo to Trade at N1,330 Per Dollar

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira fell by 93 Kobo or 0.07 per cent against the United States Dollar on Friday, October 2, in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) to N1,330.09/$1 from N1,329.16/$1.

It, however, appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment during the session by N7.01 to close at N1,759.58/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,766.59/£1, and gained N13.30 against the Euro to settle at N1,496.76/€1, in contrast to Wednesday’s closing rate of N1,510.06/€1.

But at the parallel market, the Naira remained unchanged against the greenback at N1,370/$1 yesterday, and at the GTBank FX desk, it maintained stability at N1,338/$1.

The market had closed on Thursday, October 1, in celebration of Nigeria’s Independence Day.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) daily FX data showed that interbank turnover fell by 122.9 per cent to $154.021 million on Friday, from $179.577 million in the previous trading session. The number of deals executed at the official window also slid to 70 from 126.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bearish on Friday, as the US labour market showed weakness in September, potentially giving the Federal Reserve room to hold interest rates even as inflation remains elevated.

The US added 29,000 jobs in September, according to the government’s Nonfarm Payrolls Report released Friday morning.

Odds of a hike in October had previously dropped after August’s US personal consumption expenditures report showed inflation cooling more than expected, with prices up 3.4 per cent from a year earlier and 3.0 per cent excluding food and energy.

Following the US Federal Reserve’s initial rate hike in three years earlier this month, there were expectations of another Federal Reserve rate increase in October.

Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 3.5 per cent to $0.2444, Dogecoin (DOGE) lost 2.9 per cent to sell at $0.0928, Ripple (XRP) dropped 2.5 per cent to trade at $1.48, and Ethereum (ETH) dipped by 1.7 per cent to $2,680.13.

Further, Solana (SOL) crashed by 1.6 per cent to $119.34, Bitcoin (BTC) slipped by 1.5 per cent to $84,618.48, and Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.4 per cent to $765.63, while TRON (TRX) rose by 0.4 per cent to $0.3352, with the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) unchange at $1.00 apiece.