Naira Weakens to N1,329/$ at Official Forex Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira weakened against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Wednesday, September 9, by N8.97 or 0.68 per cent to sell at N1,329.22/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,320.25/$1.

In the same vein, the domestic currency dropped N12.29 against the Pound Sterling in the official forex market at midweek by N13.75 to close at N1,802.15/£1 versus Tuesday’s closing price of N1,789.86/£1, and against the Euro, it depreciated by N13.75 to finish at N1,548.27/€1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,534.52/€1.

But at the parallel market, the Naira maintained stability against the US Dollar yesterday at N1,375/$1, and at the GTBank FX desk, it also traded flat at N1,330/$1.

The depreciation of the Nigerian currency at the spot market on Wednesday was influenced by fresh FX demand pressure as institutional activities at the official window surged, with turnover and deal counts both rising significantly from the previous close.

Interbank FX turnover rose sharply on the day by 69.8 per cent to $94.425 million from $55.604 million on Tuesday, with the number of interbank FX trades rising to 86 from 58.

Nigeria’s gross external reserves edged higher to $54.283 billion, up from $54.208 billion, reflecting sustained additions from across the sources.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market came under pressure amid escalating tensions between the United States and Iran, pushing Treasury yields higher and weighing on global stocks as well as riskier assets ahead of Friday’s inflation report.

Friday’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the next input, and a hot print would put a Federal Reserve hike back into the price of everything that fell on Thursday.

Iran said it was prepared for a more intense war, and the higher oil price is feeding straight into rate expectations.

Dogecoin (DOGE) slumped by 5.5 per cent to $0.0855, Binance Coin (BNB) declined by 4.5 per cent to $718.39, Ripple (XRP) slipped by 3.8 per cent to $1.38, Cardano (ADA) crashed by 3.4 per cent to $0.2129, Solana (SOL) dipped by 2.8 per cent to $101.61, Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 1.4 per cent to $78,153.77, and Ethereum (ETH) shrank by 1.1 per cent to $2,472.21.

However, TRON (TRX) appreciated by 0.5 per cent to $0.3398, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.