It was not good day for the Naira in the black market segment of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Thursday. August 7, as its value significantly weakened against the US Dollar at the close of business.
Data obtained by Business Post from forex traders showed that the local currency crashed against the greenback yesterday by N22, the highest single-day loss in a while, to sell for N1,565/$1 compared with the N1,543/$1 it was exchanged on Wednesday.
This significant loss was largely blamed on speculators, who bet that the customers may begin to demand for FX later this month and next month for end of the year travels and school fees payment.
However, in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) window, which is controlled by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian Naira slightly closed stronger against the Dollar yesterday by 17 Kobo or 0.01 per cent to quote at N1,534.34/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,534.51/$1.
Also in the official market, the Nigerian currency lost N15.16 against the Pound Sterling during the trading day to trade at N2,059.03/£1 versus N2,043.87/£1 and depreciated against the Euro by N4.39 to finish at N1,787.56/€1, in contrast to the N1,783.17/€1 it was traded at midweek session.
Market analysts and traders have maintained that the Naira will appreciate further given persistent FX injections by the central bank backed by flows to unofficial currency market, which has helped to stabilised the Naira, and reduce exchange rates gap to minimal level that discourage speculative transactions.
“We expect the FX market to continue to trade within the $1,500 to $1,600 band, supported by sustained reserve accretion and positive sentiment from recent macroeconomic revisions. However, subdued FX inflows could limit further Naira gains, keeping market dynamics sensitive to shifts in investor participation,” analysts at Coronation Merchant Bank noted earlier this week.
As for the digital currency market, a win-like situation for Ripple (XRP) lifted the mood of investors as the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s 2020 lawsuit against Ripple Labs was officially declared over.
This came after the two parties informed the Second Circuit Court of Appeals that they were voluntarily dismissing their respective appeals of a 2023 ruling in the case.
The SEC filed an appeal in 2024 after a district judge’s ruling in 2023 said that Ripple was making XRP available to retail traders through exchanges, while Ripple cross-appealed to maintain its arguments in the case.
The development saw XRP record a 10.9 per cent appreciation to close at $3.31, as Dogecoin (DOGE) went up by 7.4 per cent to $0.2203, and Cardano (ADA) added 6.9 per cent to trade at $0.7892.
Further, Ethereum (ETH) gained 5.9 per cent to close at $3,904.72, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 3.6 per cent to $174.50, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 2.4 per cent to $785.60, and Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 1.8 per cent to $116,584.53.
However, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 1.1 per cent to end at $119.86, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.