The Naira returned to winning ways as it appreciated against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, September 12 by 27 Kobo or 0.02 per cent to trade at N1,501.87/$1, in contrast to the previous closing value of N1,502.14/$1 .
The appreciation of the Naira was driven by sufficient US Dollar volume supplied by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which quelled rising FX demand.
In the same vein, the Nigerian Naira improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by 85 Kobo to close at N2,028.83/£1 compared with the N2,029.68/£1 it was transacted a day earlier, and gained 74 Kobo to close at N1,754.35/€1 versus Thursday’s N1,755.09/€1.
There are expectations that robust FX liquidity and an efficient FX market will see the local currency trade between N1,500 and N1,550 in coming weeks.
The CBN sold $29.10 million to authorised dealer, banks this week to support the local currency amidst growing external reserves, analysts at Cordros Capital Limited said in a note.
Nigeria’s gross external reserves increased for the tenth consecutive week, growing by $87.11 million week on week to $41.66 billion
In the black market, the Nigerian currency traded flat yesterday at N1,520/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish as traders remained optimistic about possible rate cuts.
Next week, the much anticipated US Federal Reserve meeting will take place and traders universally expect the US central bank to trim its benchmark fed funds rate by 25 basis points to 4 per cent-$4.25 per cent.
Dogecoin (DOGE) surged by 8.6 per cent to $0.2829, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 4.0 per cent to $4,720.72, Cardano (ADA) jumped by 2.8 per cent to $0.9272, and Litecoin (LTC) improved by 2.3 per cent to sell at $118.76.
Further, Ripple (XRP) grew by 2.2 per cent to $3.11, Solana (SOL) expanded by 2.1 per cent to $242.81, Binance Coin (BNB) soared by 1.9 per cent to $925.31, and Bitcoin (BTC) advanced by 0.6 per cent to $115,891.09, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.