Naira Firms to N1,436.58/$1 at Official Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira appreciated further against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, November 7, by 16 Kobo or 0.12 per cent to close at N1,436.58/$1, in contrast to the N1,436.74/$1 it ended a day earlier.

Equally, the Nigerian Naira gained against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by 21 Kobo to finish at N1,882.35/£1 compared with Thursday’s closing price of N1,882.56/£1 and improved against the Euro by 19 Kobo to trade at N1,657.52/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,657.71/€1.

Once again, the domestic currency retained its previous day’s value of N1,446/$1 at GTBank forex counter, and at the parallel market, it closed flat at N1,450/$1 during the trading day.

The Naira stability is hinged on continued FX interventions from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and overall investor sentiment which continues to get backing from strong external reserves and expectations of sustained high crude oil prices.

Nigeria’s gross external reserves increased to $43.324 billion as of November 6, up from $43.197 billion at the end of October.

This week, the country saw a 477 per cent oversubscribed Eurobond raise which provided additional support for the local currency outlook as it signifies good foreign investment sentiments on the Nigerian economy.

In the crypto market, there were some gains as investors clawed back after recent losses as economic data suggests a December Federal Reserve rate cut could be very much back on the table.

Amid the government shutdown and lack of official statistics, the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey released on Friday showed that suggest the central bank might have to re-consider plans not to cut rates again at its final meeting of the year in December.

Litecoin (LTC) added 10.7 per cent to sell at $99.97, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 8.2 per cent to $0.1795, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 6.6 per cent to $0.5791, Ripple (XRP) gained 4.2 per cent to close at $2.31, Binance Coin (BNB) oared by 2.8 per cent to $993.06, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 2.8 per cent to $3,445.19, Solana (SOL) increased by 2.3 per cent to $160.36, and Bitcoin (BTC) advanced by 0.5 per cent to $102,371.77, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.