By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira halted its recent downward movement as it regained its strength against the US Dollar for the first time this week at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market.
The respite came for the Naira after back-to-back losses despite moves by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to save the Naira from plunging.
Yesterday, the local currency gained 0.22 per cent or N1.73 against the greenback to close at N771.69/$1 compared with the previous day’s N773.42/$1.
This country’s legal tender witnessed a significant increase in the value of FX transactions, as it closed with a turnover of $121.60 million compared with the $45.34 million a day earlier, representing an increase of 168.4 per cent or $76.35 million.
The Nigerian currency recorded an ease in pressure after the CBN provided clarity on its net reserves figure, which was estimated at $3.7 billion by JP Morgan.
According to Mr Hassan Mahmud, the Director of the Monetary Policy Department, CBN, during a television interview, the estimate was done with a few assumptions, which, if incorrect, would substantially change the picture.
He, however, gave an assurance that the CBN owned about 80 per cent of funds in reserves mainly to support the local currency in periods of volatility as well as boost the confidence of foreign investors, among others.
This calmed tension in the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) window on Thursday, as the domestic currency closed flat against the US Dollar at N911/$1, but lost N5 against the American currency at the black market to sell at N900/$1 compared with Wednesday’s exchange rate of N895/$1.
Also, the Naira lost N18.70 against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday to close at N976.76/£1 compared to the previously traded rate of N958.06/£1 and shed N17.95 against the Euro to finish at N836.98/€1, in contrast to midweek’s rate of N819.03/€1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was weak on Thursday, with Bitcoin (BTC) going down by 1.5 per cent to $26,037.60, and Ethereum (ETH) losing 1.4 per cent to sell at $1,651.00.
Further, Solana (SOL) shed 5.5 per cent to $20.65, Cardano (ADA) declined by 3.3 per cent to trade at $0.2616, Ripple (XRP) recorded a 2.9 per cent drop to settle at $0.5156, Dogecoin (DOGE) crashed by 2.7 per cent to $0.0622, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 2.4 per cent to $64.19, and Binance Coin (BNB) fell by 1.7 per cent to sell for $215.20, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and Binance USD (BUSD) traded flat at $1.00 each.
Modupe Gbadeyanka