Naira Gains N1.31 Against Dollar at NAFEM

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira improved its value against the United States Dollar by N1.31 or 0.09 per cent on Wednesday, September 30, to exchange at N1,329.16/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,330.47/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).

However, the domestic currency fell against the Pound Sterling in the same official market yesterday by N5.97 to trade at N1,766.59/£1, in contrast to Tuesday’s N1,760.62/£1, and depreciated against the Euro by 50 Kobo to quote at N1,510.06/€1 versus the preceding day’s N1,509.56/€1.

At the black market, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the US Dollar during the session at N1,370/$1, and at the GTBank FX desk, it traded flat at N1,338/$1.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) daily FX data showed that interbank turnover increased by 122.9 per cent to $179.577 million from $80.582 million, with the number of deals executed at the official window growing to 94 deals from 37 deals.

Gross foreign exchange reserves soared to $54.6 billion in mid-September, the highest level in over 18 years, providing the central bank with sufficient room to stabilise short-term volatility without aggressive market interventions.

Furthermore, market sentiment remains influenced by the CBN’s recent monetary policy easing, where the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) reduced the baseline Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 350 basis points to 23.0 per cent.

As for the cryptocurrency market, it was up on Wednesday due to a softer-than-expected US inflation report.

August’s US personal consumption expenditures report showed inflation cooling more than expected, with prices up 3.4 per cent from a year earlier and 3.0 per cent excluding food and energy, which has reduced the odds of another Federal Reserve rate increase in October and made December look like the more likely next move.

However, persistently high Treasury yields erased much of crypto’s advance, with the 10-year yield near 5.3 per cent and the 30-year yield close to its highest level since 2002.

Following the US Federal Reserve’s initial rate hike in three years earlier this month, there were expectations of another Federal Reserve rate increase in October.

Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 3.1 per cent to $0.2527, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 2.1 per cent to $0.0957, Ethereum (ETH) added 1.9 per cent to trade at $2,718.41, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 1.4 per cent to $84,348.25, and Binance Coin (BNB) expanded by 1.1 per cent to $771.27.

Further, Solana (SOL) rose by 0.6 per cent to $119.44, Ripple (XRP) soared by 0.4 per cent to $1.50, and TRON (TRX) went up by 0.1 per cent to trade at $0.3373, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.