The Naira succumbed to fresh foreign exchange (FX) pressure on Monday as it weakened further against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N4.58 or 0.31 per cent to N1,470.26/$1 from the N1,465.68/$1 in was traded last Friday.
Also, in the official market, the local currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling during the session by N4.40 to close at N1,976.91/£1 compared with the previous rate of N1,972.51/£1, but gained N2.56 against the Euro to close at N1,718.29/€1 versus the preceding trading day’s rate of N1,720.85/€1.
At look at the GTBank exchange rate showed that the domestic currency lost N15 against the greenback yesterday to sell for N1,475/$1 compared with the previous session’s rate of N1,460/$1.
In the black market, the Nigerian currency tumbled against its American counterpart on Monday by N10 to quote at N1,475/$1 versus the previous trading session’s N1,465/$1.
The depreciation came as pressure mounted amid the absence of visible interventions in the past week, even as there were strong signals at the beginning of the last quarter of the year.
There are expectations that continue FX inflows and steady interventions by the apex bank will see the local currency trade within the N1,480 and N1,500 range.
Investment firms – Cordros Capital Limited and AIICO Capital confirmed that robust liquidity inflows from offshore investors and International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) will also help provide supply support to mop up demand.
Also, inflows from oil receipts, remittances, and portfolio investments saw foreign reserves continued their twelve-week rally, rising $150.99 million to $42.41 billion as of the first week of October.
At the digital currency market, most tokens were in green on renewed bullish momentum driven by weaker US Dollars which spurred strong institutional demand.
Binance Coin (BNB) appreciated by 4.0 per cent to $1,253.09, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 3.8 per cent to $0.2648, Ethereum (ETH) rose by 3.2 per cent to $4,690.92, Cardano (ADA) improved by 2.8 per cent to $0.8671, and Bitcoin (BTC) grew by 0.5 per cent to $124,261.18.
However, Litecoin (LTC) slumped by 1.7 per cent to $118.55, Solana (SOL) slipped by 0.2 per cent to $232.79, and Ripple (XRP) crashed by 0.1 per cent to $2.98, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.