Naira Succumbs to FX Demand Pressure, Loses 0.12%

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira depreciated by 50 kobo or 0.12 per cent against the Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Monday.

The exchange rate of the local currency against the greenback closed yesterday at N416.50/$1 compared with N416.00/$1 it ended at the preceding trading session, which was last Friday.

The domestic currency suffered the loss yesterday amid an increase in the demand for forex at the special FX market window created by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to meet the needs of high forex users.

According to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange, the turnover for the session stood at $146.87 million, 19.0 per cent or $23.47 million higher than the $123.40 million achieved on the final trading day of last week.

The Nigerian currency also suffered the same fate at the interbank segment of the market yesterday as its value depreciated by 21 kobo or 0.1 per cent against the American currency to trade at N415.00/$1 in contrast to the preceding session’s N414.79/$1.

However, the Naira appreciated against the Pound Sterling at the same market window by N2.23 to trade at N567.06/£1 compared with N569.29/£1 of the previous session and also closed stronger against the Euro by N1.50 to sell for N473.72/€1 in contrast to N475.22/€1 it finished last Friday.

A look at the cryptocurrency market indicated that the battle between the bears and bulls continued, though five of the 10 tokens tracked by Business Post closed bullish.

Cardano (ADA) rose by 12.7 per cent to trade at N912.16, Litecoin (LTC) moved up by 4.3 per cent to trade at N87,075.16, Dogecoin (DOGE) gained 1.4 per cent to sell at N102.82, Tron (TRX) improved by 1.1 per cent to quote at N40.33, while Dash (DASH) gained 0.2 per cent to trade at N78,089.50.

On the flip side, Bitcoin (BTC) lost 3.3 per cent to finish at N23,769,999.99, Binance Coin (BNB) fell by 3.9 per cent to trade at N196,963.21, Ethereum (ETH) declined by 2.9 per cent to sell at N1,850,811.95, Ripple (XRP) went down by 0.6 per cent to N444.55, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) dropped 0.3 per cent to N573.48.