Naira Falls at Parallel Market, P2P, Official Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira depreciated against the American currency in the key segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market, the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), peer-to-peer (P2P) and the parallel market on Thursday amid rush for forex before the Christmas holiday.

In the official market, the domestic currency weakened against the greenback yesterday by 0.9 per cent or N7.30 to finish at N861.91/$1 compared with the previous day’s N854.61/$1.

However, the Naira gained against the Pound Sterling in the spot market during the session by N8.50 to settle at N1,148.22/£1 compared with the midweek’s rate of N1,156.72/£1 and on the Euro, it improved its value by N2.20 to close at N993.77/€1, in contrast to the preceding day’s N995.97/€1.

The total value of forex transactions recorded at the NAFEM window stood at $118.15 million compared with the $181.30 million achieved a day earlier, representing a decline of $63.15 million or 34.83 per cent.

In the P2P section of the FX market, the local currency depreciated on its American counterpart on Thursday by N12 to sell at N1,177/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,165/$1.

Similarly, in the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira weakened against the US Dollar yesterday by N5 to close at N1,195/$1, in contrast to the preceding day’s rate of N1,190/$1.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market witnessed bullish outcome on Thursday, with Solana (SOL) gaining 17.1 per cent to $98.52, making it the fourth most-capitalised crypto in the market, the first time it has done so in over two years.

Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 1.3 per cent to $44,178.65, Ethereum (ETH) grew by 3.1 per cent to $2,261.06, Cardano (ADA) jumped by 7.7 per cent to $0.6333, Binance Coin (BNB) appreciated by 7.4 per cent to sell for $276.04, Dogecoin (DOGE) soared by 3.1 per cent to close at $0.0939, Litecoin (LTC) chalked up 2.0 per cent to finish at $71.05, and Ripple (XRP) recorded a 1.4 per cent appreciation to trade at $0.6223, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (BUSD) closed flat at $1.00 apiece.