Naira Trades at N598/$1 at Peer-to-Peer FX Market Window

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira closed weaker by 0.48 per cent or N2 against the Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the foreign exchange (FX) market as investors on Monday, May 9.

According to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange, the local currency was exchanged for the US Dollar at N419.00/$1 compared with the preceding session’s exchange rate of N417.00/$1 amid a low supply of forex to traders at the market window.

The FX turnover for the day was $53.26 million compared with the $88.43 million achieved last Friday, representing a decline by $35.28 million or 39.90 per cent.

Also, the strengthening of the American currency to a 20-year high affected the domestic currency and the others across the globe yesterday.

At the spot market, the Naira also depreciated against the British Pound Sterling on Monday by N1.07 to trade at N514.42/£1 compared to the previously traded rate of N513.35/£1, while against the Euro, it appreciated by 76 kobo to close at N438.70/€1 in contrast to last Friday’s value of N439.46/€1.

At the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) window, the Naira was exchanged with the Dollar on Monday at N598/$1.

As for the digital currency market, nine of the 10 benchmarked tokens tracked by Business Post depreciated on the back of the interest rates hike by the US, the United Kingdom and Australia.

The US Federal Reserve, on its part, raised its key lending rate by half a percentage point, marking its biggest rate hike in more than 20 years.

That has triggered more concerns among some investors that inflation and the higher cost of borrowing could have a major impact on global economic growth and assets like cryptocurrencies were bearish.

Yesterday, Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 9.8 per cent to N19,669,659 as Litecoin (LTC) retreated by 15.9 per cent to trade at N49,721.60, with Cardano (ADA) losing 15.6 per cent to sell at N395.82.

Dogecoin (DOGE) slumped by 13.6 per cent to trade at N67.55, Binance Coin (BNB) recorded a 13.5 per cent loss to quote at N232,692.84, Dash (DASH) fell by 13.4 per cent to N43,266.17, Solana (SOL) dropped 12.3 per cent to settle at N39,382.16, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 9.9 per cent to N1,396,950, Ripple (XRP) went down by 9.1 per cent to N320.

But the US Dollar Tether (USDT) rose by 0.1 per cent to N618.