Economy
Naira Drops to N1,659 Per Dollar at Official Market
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira marginally crumbled against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday by 72 Kobo or 0.04 per cent to close at N1,659.69/$1 compared with Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,658.97/$1.
The daily supply of FX as measured by secondary data from FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited indicated a decline in turnover by $40.85 million or 18.7 per cent to $177.01 million from the $217.86 million recorded a day earlier.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday said Nigeria’s inflation rose by 32.70 per cent in the month of September, the first uptick after moderating in July and August.
The Naira reacted to this development and its value tumbled against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N64.28 to sell at N2,153.90/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N2,089.62/£1.
It followed the same route against the Euro during the session by depreciating by N51.67 to quote as the midweek session at N1,800.79/€1 versus the preceding day’s rate of N1,749.12/€1.
In the black market, the Nigerian currency depreciated against the US Dollar at midweek by N5 to quote at N1,705/$1 compared wit the previous trading day’s N1,700/$1.
In the cryptocurrency market, most of the tokens closed mixed as investors set eyes on the US elections less than three weeks away.
Traders are positioning themselves for what’s to come after November 5 and how a new administration will respond to factors affecting financial markets, including crypto.
Crypto has been in an uptrend over the past week, with Chinese stimulus, central bank rate cuts, and now the US elections coming into clearer focus among the reasons cited for recent gains.
Dogecoin (DOGE) gained 3.2 per cent to sell at $0.1223, Ripple (XRP) jumped by 2.9 per cent to settle at $0.5585, Binance Coin (BNB) went up by 1.3 per cent to close at $599.90, Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.6 per cent to $2,629.61, and Bitcoin (BTC) appreciated by 0.3 per cent to trade at $67,353.86.
On the flip side, Litecoin (LTC) plunged by 1.4 per cent to $70.70, Cardano (ADA) slid by 1.3 per cent to $0.3509, and Solana (SOL) dropped by 0.9 per cent to $152.93, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
