By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira recorded a further gain of 1.01 per cent or N8.00 against the Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) as it closed at N782.68/$1 on Thursday, October 19 compared with Wednesday’s N790.68/$1.
The local currency improved its value in the official market yesterday amid an increase in the supply of FX into the system, though the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) still has a huge backlog to clear.
At the market on Thursday, the value of forex trades surged by 39.5 per cent or $27.59 million to $97.47 million from the $69.88 million recorded in the preceding trading day, according to data obtained from FMDQ Securities Exchange.
In the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) section, the Nigerian currency continued its depreciation during the session as it declined by N44 against the greenback to sell at N1,165/$1 compared with the midweek’s value of N1,121/$1.
In the same vein, the domestic currency weakened against the US Dollar yesterday by N55 to close at N1,155/$1 versus the previous day’s rate of N1,100/$1.
However, in the official market, the Naira appreciated against the British currency, the Pound Sterling, by N27.82 to finish at N1,045.35/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,073.17/£1 and against the Euro, the Nigerian currency improved its value by N21.49 to sell at N909.52/€1 versus N931.01/€1.
The cryptocurrency market recorded a bullish outcome as eight of the 10 key tokens tracked by Business Post were pointing up after it emerged that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would no longer pursue claims that Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse or Executive Chairman Chris Larsen aided and abetted the company in violating federal securities laws in its XRP transactions, cancelling a trial scheduled for next year.
As a result, XRP surged by 5.7 per cent to $0.5101 but the day’s largest gainer was Solana (SOL), which appreciated by 10.1 per cent to $26.15.
Bitcoin (BTC) rallied by 3.1 per cent to $29,216.13, Ethereum (ETH) gained 1.9 per cent to trade at $1,581.74, Litecoin (LTC) went up by 2.8 per cent to $62.30, Cardano (ADA) recorded a 2.6 per cent growth to sell at $0.249, Dogecoin (DOGE) appreciated by 1.9 per cent to $0.0594, Binance Coin (BNB) moved up by 1.3 per cent to $212.62, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and Binance USD (BUSD) retained parity at $1.00 each.
The market is optimistic as the SEC is easing on pursuit in the market as it declined to appeal its court loss against Grayscale Investments on Monday. The news renewed hopes that a bitcoin exchange-traded fund is on the horizon.
Modupe Gbadeyanka