By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira regained strength to give the United States Dollar a fair fightback on Wednesday, as it appreciated by N47.44 or 6.0 per cent at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the foreign exchange market to close at N741.64/$1 versus the previous day’s value of N789.08/$1.
Data from FMDQ Securities Exchange showed that the value of forex trades significantly increased in the midweek session as it closed at $134.12 million, higher than the $67.33 million achieved a day earlier by $66.79 million or 99.2 per cent.
The local currency firmed up after the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Monetary Policies, Mr Wale Edun, said the fair value of the Naira was N700/$1 and not the black market rate.
A look at the exchange rate in the parallel market indicated showed that the Naira gained N1 against the Dollar yesterday to close at N871/$1, in contrast to Tuesday’s value of N872/$1.
However, in the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) window, the Nigerian currency slumped against the greenback on Wednesday by N3 to close at N879/$1 versus Tuesday’s. N876/$1.
Business Post reports that the Naira appreciated against the Pound Sterling during the session by N49.30 to wrap up at N941.39/£1 compared with the previous day’s N990.69/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N40.25 to trade at N810.86/€1 versus N851.11/€1.
The cryptocurrency market recorded a decline, with Bitcoin (BTC) trading below $29,200 as uncertainty remains. The world’s largest crypto by value slumped by 0.2 per cent to sell at $29,159.48, as its rival, Ethereum (ETH), depleted by 0.3 per cent to $1,842.29.
Litecoin (LTC) shed 5.7 per cent to trade at $87.62, Dogecoin (DOGE) decreased by 3.4 per cent to $0.0746, Solana (SOL) depreciated by 2.2 per cent to $23.12, Ripple (XRP) recorded a 2.0 per cent fall to trade at $0.6872, Cardano (ADA) dropped 1.7 per cent to $0.302, and Binance Coin (BNB) shrank by 1.6 per cent to $241.47, while Binance USD (BUSD) and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
Dipo Olowookere