The Naira witnessed a 0.29 per cent or N4.71 appreciation against the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, April 2, closing at N1,581.48/$1 compared with last Friday’s value of N1,586.19/$1 .
Similarly, the Nigerian currency improved its rate against the greenback in the parallel market by N10 yesterday to sell for N1,615/$1 compared with the previous trading day’s value of N1,625/$1.
Market analysts noted that the appreciation was supported by Dollar inflows from Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) and non-bank corporates, despite a drop in liquidity.
A research by Coronation Merchant Bank showed that total inflows at the official market dropped to $1.04 billion last week compared to the previous week’s $4.42 billion.
Despite the decline, FPIs and non-bank corporates dominated inflows.
FPIs contributed 32.02 per cent of total inflows, non-bank corporates 29.49 per cent, while the CBN accounted for 19.71 per cent. Exporters brought in 18.33 per cent, and other sources accounted for the remaining 0.45 per cent.
At the official market, the local currency, however, depreciated against the Pound Sterling yesterday by N6.98 to close at N2,143.37/£1 versus N2,136.39/£1 and declined against the Euro by N12.38 to quote at N1,809.49/€1, in contrast to the previous session’s N1,797.11/€1.
In the cryptocurrency market, there were positive movements on record as the US Dollar touched a six-week low on Tuesday on signs of fragility in the US economy.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency against six major peers, touched 98.58, the lowest since late April, before slightly rebounding.
Ethereum (ETH) gained 4.4 per cent to finish at $2,605.66, Dogecoin (DOGE) appreciated by 2.5 per cent to $01955, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 2.1 per cent to $89.55, Solana (SOL) added 2.0 per cent to trade at $158.96, Cardano (ADA) went up by 1.9 per cent to $0.6939, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 1.4 per cent to $666.95, Ripple (XRP) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $2.20, and Bitcoin (BTC) soared by 0.5 per cent to $105,340.46, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00, respectively.