Naira Further Appreciates to N393.83/$1 at I&E Window

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira appreciated by 0.12 per cent or 47 kobo against the US Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the foreign exchange market on Tuesday, January 5 to close at N393.83/$1.

At the previous session, the local currency closed at N394.30/$1 after it appreciated by more than N15 at the first trading day of the year, easing the pressure on the Naira after a rush for the greenback during the festive period.

Yesterday, the local currency edged out stronger despite a rise in the demand for the Dollar at the market segment by market participants.

Transactions worth $33.51 million were executed at the I&E window on Tuesday compared with the $22.75 million achieved a day early, indicating a rise in the turnover by 47.3 per cent or $10.76 million.

At the parallel market, the local currency held its ground against the American currency to trade at N470/$1. It also closed flat against the British Pound and the Euro at N628/£1 and N572/€1 respectively.

Also, the situation did not change at the Bureaux De Change (BDC) segment of the market, where the Nigerian currency maintained stability against the greenback on Tuesday at N395/$1.

Similarly, the exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar at interbank FX window yesterday remained unchanged as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) auctioned the greenback to commercial banks at N379/$1.

Meanwhile, at the cryptocurrency market on Tuesday, Bitcoin performed well, gaining 5.2 per cent to trade at N16,099,500, according to data obtained by Business Post from Quidax, a cryptocurrency trading and price tracking website in Nigeria.

Ethereum also showed no sign of slowing down as it made a 7.2 per cent gain to sell at N521,988.90, Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 5.3 per cent to trade at N76,250, the Dash (DASH) rose by 3.1 per cent to sell for N43,861.21, the US Dollar Tether (USDT) grew by 1.9 per cent to quote at N482.97.

However, Ripple (XRP) could not hold its recent strength as it dipped by 3.4 per cent to sell at N107.02, while Tron (TRX) slid by 0.5 per cent to sell at N13.45.