By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated against the greenback in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Monday by 0.81 per cent or N6.30 to sell at N772.12/$1 compared with last Friday’s closing price of N778.42/$1.
Also, in the official market, the Naira improved its value against the Pound Sterling by N3.67 to trade at N973.09/£1 compared to the previously traded rate of N976.76/£1 and appreciated against the Euro by N1.25 to close at N835.73/€1 versus N836.98/€1.
The Nigerian currency gained weight on these foreign currencies despite a shortfall in the country’s external reserves and the inflow of forex into the system.
Data obtained from FMDQ Securities Exchange showed that the value of FX traders reported at the spot market yesterday was $40.21 million, lower than the $73.80 million achieved in the preceding trading session by $33.59 million or 45.5 per cent.
According to the latest data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in the two months since it officially floated the Naira and liberalised the forex market, external reserves have dropped 2.7 per cent or $915 million to $33.74 billion versus $34.66 billion as of June 14, 2023.
This decline in Nigeria’s FX reserves affected the domestic currency in the parallel market on Monday, as it lost N10 against the US Dollar to sell at N915/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N905/$1.
It was not a different story at the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) window, where the local currency depreciated against the Dollar by N13 to sell at N928/$1, in contrast to the previous session’s N915/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market could not convince investors why they should jump back into the landscape, with Bitcoin (BTC) trading volume hitting its lowest level in almost five years this month.
It lost 0.1 per cent in value on Monday to trade at $26,040.32, Ethereum (ETH) also shed 0.1 per cent to sell at $1,649.54, Solana (SOL) declined by 0.2 per cent to $20.45, Ripple (XRP) slumped by 0.1 per cent to $0.5206, and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) dipped 0.02 per cent to $0.9992.
However, Cardano (ADA) jumped by 1.5 per cent to trade at $0.2648, Dogecoin (DOGE) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.0632, Litecoin (LTC) rose by 0.8 per cent to $65.28, and Binance Coin (BNB) expanded by 0.1 per cent to $217.96, while Binance USD (BUSD) traded flat at $1.00.
