The Naira extended its recent gaining spree by 0.15 per cent or N2.24 on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Wednesday, February 19.
Yesterday, the local currency was exchanged with the greenback at N1,507.33/$1 in the official market compared with the preceding day’s value of N1,509.57/$1.
Against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the spot market, the domestic currency closed flat at N1,900.46/£1 and N1,605.17/€1 , respectively at the midweek session.
In the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the US Dollar during the trading day by N5 to quote at N1,535/$1, in contrast to Tuesday’s exchange rate of N1,540/$1.
The Naira’s positive outcome aligns with expectations that it would firm up in the first quarter of the year, backed by continued policy support by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Also, the recent rebasing of Nigeria’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) which rejigged inflation to 24.48 per cent supports possible rate pause or cuts by the apex bank.
The CBN started its 299th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Wednesday and the decision will be announced later today.
In the cryptocurrency market, most of the tokens appreciated despite waning demand, faltering blockchain activity, and lack of liquidity inflows to crypto.
Also, demand for bitcoin, which picked up in late 2024 amid optimism over easing regulatory headwinds on Trump’s election win, is now retreating.
In addition, sentiment in the broader crypto market has been battered by highly controversial memecoin launches in the past weeks, with the likes of TRUMP memecoin and LIBRA burning speculative capital.
Ripple (XRP) gained 5.8 per cent to trade at $2.69, Cardano (ADA) rose by 4.2 per cent to $0.7809, Solana (SOL) improved by 2.4 per cent to $171.94, Bitcoin (BTC) jumped by 1.4 per cent to $96,924.55, Ethereum (ETH) chalked up 1.1 per cent to sell for $2,729.55, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 1.0 per cent to $0.2547, and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) added 0.03 per cent to quote at $0.9999.
Conversely, Litecoin (LTC) slid by 1.2 per cent to settle at $130.28, and Binance Coin (BNB) also went down by 1.2 per cent to $647.50, while the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00.