It was a bad day for the Naira on Tuesday, April 22 as its value plummeted against the United States Dollar by N3.23 or 0.2 per cent at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).
It was the first trading session in the official market after the long Easter Break which started last Friday.
The Nigerian Naira was exchanged with the greenback yesterday at N1,603.16/$1, in contrast to the preceding trading day’s rate of N1,599.93/$1.
However, the local currency closed flat against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the spot market at N2,120.24/£1 and N1,817.69/€1, respectively.
At the parallel market, the Naira appreciated against the US Dollar during the session by N10 to sell for N1,610/$1 compared with the previous trading session’s N1,620/$1.
In the cryptocurrency market, most of the tokens improved on Tuesday, buoyed by renewed investor optimism and fresh hopes of an ease in US-China trade tensions.
Earlier on Tuesday, remarks from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who reportedly told investors at a closed-door JPMorgan event that the tariff standoff with China was unsustainable.
Mr Bessent said de-escalation would come “in the very near future,” characterizing current conditions as a “trade embargo.” However, he cautioned that a more comprehensive deal between the two nations could take even years.
Then President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters in the White House later, said that US tariffs on China “will come down substantially” from the current 145 per cent level, allaying concerns of a spiraling trade war.
Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 10.6 per cent to $1,784.93, Dogecoin (DOGE) appreciated by 10.3 per cent to $0.1812, Cardano (ADA) added 9.9 per cent to trade at $0.6971, and Solana (SOL) gained 7.9 per cent to close at $151.25.
Further, Ripple (XRP) grew by 7.5 per cent to $2.25, Bitcoin (BTC) expanded by 6.2 per cent to $93,822.95, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 5.8 per cent to $84.22, and Binance Coin (BNB) went up by 2.3 per cent to $617.20, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) sold flat at $1.00 each.