By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira continued its recovery process against the United States Dollar in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Tuesday, with its value strengthening further at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) window, it gained an additional 0.8 per cent or N36.77 against the greenback during the session to quote at N1,560.57/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,597.34/$1.
This was bolstered by an improvement in the supply of forex into the system, with the turnover rising by 8.9 per cent or $54.68 million to $195.13 million from the $140.45 million transacted on Monday.
Also, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the British Pound Sterling in the spot market by N123.31 yesterday to sell for N1,880.4/£1 versus the preceding day’s N2,003.85/1 and against the Euro, it was fortified by N105.15 to trade at N1.607.54/€1 compared with Monday’s closing price of N1,712.69/€1.
Similarly, the local currency gained N20 against the American Dollar in the parallel market on Tuesday to settle at N1,580/$1, in contrast to the N1,600/$1 it was exchanged.
The Naira’s pathway to recovery has been littered with many unorthodox moves to complement the measures taken to ease the market from a crisis, though analysts have maintained that sustained injection of FX into the system will ensure continued stability.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market went into price correction mode on Tuesday, with Bitcoin (BTC) falling back by 15.6 per cent to $60.873.62 at the close of business.
Things worsened for the digital coin yesterday as the US-listed spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded massive outflows that translated to dips for other tokens.
The leading cryptocurrency by market value recorded its biggest single-day percentage decline since November 9, 2022, when prices tanked over 14 per cent as Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange, formerly the third largest, went bankrupt.
However, the heaviest plunge on Tuesday was witnessed by Solana (SOL), 11.8 per cent, closing at $164.25, as Ethereum (ETH) went down by 9.5 per cent to $3,067.19, and Cardano (ADA) dipped by 7.9 per cent to $0.5737.
Further, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 6.4 per cent to $0.1239, Ripple (XRP) lost 4.5 per cent to sell at $0.5733, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 4.4 per cent to $502.74, and Litecoin (LTC) fell by 4.3 per cent to $77.55, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
