Naira Marginally Appreciates by 11 Kobo Against USD at Official Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira marginally gained 11 Kobo or 0.01 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Tuesday, October 20, to trade at N1,333.65/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,333.76/$1.

It also appreciated against the Euro in the official market yesterday by 12 Kobo to sell for N1,497.29/€1, in contrast to Monday’s closing rate of N1,497.41/€1, but weakened against the Pound Sterling by N6.40 to close at N1,784.69/£1 versus N1,778.29/£1.

The Nigerian currency maintained stability against the US Dollar in the parallel market during the session at N1,358/$1, and also traded flat at the GTBank FX counter at N1,340/$1.

Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that interbank FX turnover rose by 48.18 per cent to $60.715 million from $40.975 million, with the number of FX deals up to 70 deals from 59 deals.

The Naira has appreciated by nearly eight per cent against the Dollar this year, ranking it among the 10 best-performing currencies out of 144 tracked by Bloomberg.

The currency’s gains have also boosted returns on Nigerian equities and local-currency bonds, which rank among the strongest performers globally.

In the near-term, market analysts expect the local currency to sustain this movement but warned that rising government borrowing could threaten the currency’s outlook.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish on Tuesday, after strong earnings from SpaceX and Super Micro Computer revived the AI trade and sent tech stocks higher.

The market is also predicting the next possible action as the US Federal Reserve meets on October 27 and 28.

Dogecoin (DOGE) soared by 2.9 per cent to $0.0814, Cardano (ADA) increased by 2.6 per cent to $0.2223, Ripple (XRP) expanded by 2.5 per cent to $1.33, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped by 2.0 per cent to $742.42, Ethereum (ETH) rose by 1.7 per cent to $2,434.97, Solana (SOL) added 1.2 per cent to $105.67, and Bitcoin (BTC) leapt by 1.0 per cent to $82,567.00.

However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 0.3 per cent to $0.3307, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.