Relief as Naira Appreciates to N406.50/$1 at I&E FX Window

By Adedapo Adesanya

The local currency continued to fight back heavily against the US Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the foreign exchange (FX) market.

On Thursday, the Naira appreciated against the greenback at the I&E FX segment by N4.50 or 1.1 per cent to close at N406.5/$1 in contrast to N411/$1 it closed at the previous session.

The strengthening of the Nigerian currency occurred yesterday despite a fresh increase in the demand for forex at the market in preparation for the weekend rush and expenditures.

During the trading session, transactions worth $66.99 million were executed at the market window, $33.84 million or 102.1 per cent higher than the $33.15 million recorded on Wednesday.

However, at the other market levels, the Naira maintained its stability against the United States Dollar.

According to data obtained by Business Post from AbokiFX, a platform used for tracking activities at the unregulated segment of the FX market in Nigeria, the domestic currency closed flat against the greenback at the black market yesterday at N480/$1.

Also, at the same parallel market, the Naira further remained unchanged against the Pound Sterling and the Euro at N672/£1 and N580/€1 respectively.

Equally, at the interbank window of the FX market, the Naira traded flat against the American currency at N379/$1, while at the Bureaux De Change (BDC), the domestic currency traded flat against the greenback at N395/$1.

A quick look at the cryptocurrency market showed that yesterday, four of the seven cryptocurrencies tracked by Business Post on Quidax closed bullish, while three were bearish.

On the gainers’ angle, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 0.5 per cent to sell at N1,023,545.00; Ripple (XRP) recorded a 1.4 per cent gain to trade at N294.68; the US Dollar Tether (USDT) grew by 3.3 per cent to trade at 630.24; while Tron (TRX) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell at N32.18.

On the losers’ space, Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 3.8 per cent to trade at N31,349,949.97; Dash (DASH) went down by 3.3 per cent to sell at N141,987.00; while Litecoin (LTC) while depreciated by 2.0 per cent to trade at N119,897.00.