Naira Stable at Parallel Market, Appreciates at I&E, P2P

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira was stable against the United States Dollar at the parallel market on Monday as its value remained unchanged at N775/$1 at the close of transactions.

However, in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) and the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market yesterday, the Nigerian currency appreciated against its American counterpart in indicative signals of an easing market after weeks of pressure.

In the I&E market, the value of the local currency to the greenback was strengthened by N1.63 or 0.37 per cent to trade at N444.70/$1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N446.33/$1, amid ease in the value of forex transactions in the official exchange rate market.

Data from FMDQ Securities Exchange showed that FX traders completed transactions worth $74.90 million during the session, lower than the previous session’s $117.26 million by 36.1 per cent or $42.36 million.

In the peer-to-peer window, the local currency appreciated against the US Dollar yesterday by N2 or 0.25 per cent to settle at N785/$1, in contrast to last Friday’s N787/$1.

However, the Naira lost N10.27 against the Pound Sterling on Monday to trade at N537.24/£1 versus N526.97/£1 and depreciated against the Euro by N6.42 to wrap up at N461.97/€1 compared with the previous day’s N455.56/€1.

In the cryptocurrency market, there was a positive vibe as Dogecoin (DOGE) grew stronger yesterday after its value improved by 8.4 per cent to trade at $0.1033, Litecoin (LTC) recorded a 7.1 per cent gain to sell at $77.23, Solana (SOL) increased by 3.9 per cent to $13.75, and Ripple (XRP) made a 2.2 per cent rise to settle at $0.3909.

Ethereum (ETH) saw its value go up 1.9 per cent to sell at $1,197.33, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.6 per cent to sell at $0.3109, Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 1.5 per cent to $16,442.95, and Binance Coin (BNB) recorded a 1.3 per cent appreciation to trade at $299.69.

But Binance USD (BUSD) slid by 0.05 per cent to trade at $0.9999, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) closed flat at $0.9996.