The Naira weakened against the United States Dollar on Tuesday, December 30 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N3.17 or 0.22 per cent to N1,445.68/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,442.51/$1.
Equally, the Nigerian Naira depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N6.01 to close at N1,951.67/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,945.66/£1 and lost N2.87 on the Euro to trade at N1,700.27/€1 compared with Monday’s closing price of N1,697.40/€1.
But, at the GTBank forex counter, the local currency appreciated against the greenback during the session by N5 to sell for N1,452/$1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,457/$1 and closed flat in the black market at N1,480/$1.
The loss posted by the domestic currency in the spot market was amid FX sales to authorised dealers by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to strengthen currency market.
It also happened amid assurances that Nigeria’s economy remains stable and resilient despite a recent joint security operation conducted by Nigerian and the US forces targeting ISIS-linked camps in Sokoto, which heightened fears to spook the market.
The apex last week stepped up FX intervention with $150 million and this week, sold $50 million to banks again in an unending intervention to stabilise the exchange rate.
As for the cryptocurrency market, major tokens rose as investors and traders took advantage of lower price entry. In the past few weeks, the markets was impacted by low liquidity and decline in risk appetites.
The focus is now on whether the market can maintain its support levels into the new year, as the tokens failed rally may signal a need for a deeper market reset.
Solana (SOL) improved by 1.5 per cent to $125.59, Binance Coin (BNB) appreciated by 1.4 per cent to $864.28, Bitcoin (BTC) grew by 1.2 per cent to $88,344.59, Ethereum (ETH) increased by 0.9 per cent to $2,968.64, Ripple (XRP) went up by 0.4 per cent to $1.86, and Litecoin (LTC) rose by 0.2 per cent to $78.13.
On the flip side, Dogecoin (DOGE) declined by 0.4 per cent to $0.1228, and Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 0.2 per cent to $0.3511, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) were flat at $1.00 each.