Fresh optimism in the Nigerian financial market as regards foreign exchange (FX) liquidity firmed up the value of the Naira against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, October 27.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that the local currency appreciated against the greenback during the session by N4.89 or 0.36 per cent to quote at N1,453.07/$1 compared with the N1,457.96/$1 it was exchanged last Friday.
The domestic currency also improved its value against the Euro in the official market yesterday by N6.00 to trade at N1,690.33/€1 versus the previous session’s N1,696.33/€1, but closed flat against the Pound Sterling at N1946.52/£1.
In the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the Dollar on Monday at N1,490/$1 and at GTBank, the Naira gained N5 against the US Dollar to close at N1,465/$1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,470/$1.
Recent efforts to boost the market were further supported by last week’s announcement by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that Nigeria has exited its grey list of countries with weak Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes, opening the possibility for the Nigerian economy to profit from increased investments.
The Naira continued to strengthen as FX pressure continued to ease as economic reforms continue to drive positive sentiments and confidence across markets, complimenting liquidity into the market from the central bank and other channels.
Also, Nigeria’s external reserves recorded a mild uptick, rising 0.40 per cent week-on-week to $42.87 billion from $42.70 billion the previous week.
The improvement was supported by steady oil receipts, stronger non-oil inflows, and a sustained trade surplus, all of which continued to underpin the CBN’s FX stability efforts.
As for the cryptocurrency market, profit-taking impacted major benchmarked tokens despite optimism about trade talks between the US and China.
President Donald Trump of the US said he is hopeful about a deal with China that could erase tariffs in exchange for access to rare-earth magnets.
Initially, crypto assets gained when the American president and his Treasury Secretary, Mr Scott Bessent signalled that progress was being made in the talks. However, traders opted for selective exposure amid ongoing macroeconomic volatility.
Dogecoin (DOGE) shrank by 4.2 per cent to $0.1999, Ethereum (ETH) dropped 3.5 per cent to sell at $4,094.52, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 3.3 per cent to $0.6668, Solana (SOL) depleted by 2.2 per cent decline to $200.42, Binance Coin (BNB) fell by 1.5 per cent to $1,135.14, Bitcoin (BTC) decreased by 1.4 per cent to $113,916.16, Ripple (XRP) slipped by 0.9 per cent to $2.63, and Litecoin (LTC) slumped by 0.7 per cent to $100.72, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained at $1.00 each.