The Naira flipped to the positive terminal on Thursday after its value firmed up against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N2.05 or 0.14 per cent to close at N1,452.13/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,454.18/$1.
The domestic currency also strengthened against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market during the session by N7.20 to close at N1,900.69/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,907.89/£1 and gained NN8.61 against the Euro to close at N1,674.75/€1, in contrast to the previous session’s closing price of N1,683.36/€1.
However, the Nigerian Naira further depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank forex counter by N4 to sell for N1,457/$1 versus Wednesday’s price of N1,457/$1, and closed flat in the black market at N1,465/$1.
Support largely came from rising inflows driven by renewed foreign investor interest and recent Eurobond proceeds, which have strengthened the country’s reserve position.
Nigeria’s external reserves reached the $46.7 billion mark, largely attributed to the federal government’s Eurobond issuance and rising FX inflows from offshore investors, giving possible lifeline of increased supply in due course. Based on this, the market will be hoping for a reversal a trend of minimal interventions by the apex bank which has capped sales at $50 million in recent weeks.
In the cryptocurrency market, there were largely losses as the market struggled to find new buyers and the momentum that had supported prices earlier in the year evaporated.
The pullback comes after weeks of unwinding among fast-moving traders and lingering positions, which has left the market more vulnerable to selling pressure and sharp swings.
Meanwhile, doubts over the Federal Reserve’s ability to cut rates in December also added to the bearish outlook, with Cardano (ADA) depreciating by 9.6 per cent to $0.4227.
Further, Solana (SOL) went south by 8.8 per cent to $131.28, Ethereum (ETH) declined by 7.9 per cent to $2,797.50, Ripple (XRP) also fell by 7.9 per cent to $1.97, Dogecoin (DOGE) dropped 7.5 per cent to finish at $0.1459, Bitcoin (BTC) shrank by 7.4 per cent to $85,873.79, Litecoin (LTC) slumped by 6.8 per cent to 86.71, and Binance Coin (BNB) slid by 5.4 per cent to $858.41, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.