The Naira started the first trading session of the week higher on a positive note, appreciating against the United States Dollar in the various segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Monday.
In the black market window, the Nigerian currency improved its value against the greenback yesterday by N5 to finish at N1,530/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,535/$1.
Also, the domestic currency gained N1.35 or 0.09 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) during the session to finish at N1,529.75/$1 compared with last Friday’s value of N1,531.10/$1.
Equally, the Naira appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market on Monday by N24.17 to close at N2,042.14/£1 versus the previous trading day’s N2,066.31/£1 and firmed up against the Euro by N13.90 to sell for N1,774.67/€1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,788.57/€1.
The reduced forex demand pressure has strengthened the Naira as well as recent decoupling from global oil prices. With rising reserves backed by enhanced foreign portfolio investment (FPI) inflows amid slowdown in import trade-related outflows, the Naira remains within the expected trading range forecast.
The cryptocurrency market witnessed profit-taking yesterday after it gained heavily as congressional action is expected to push crypto legislation to unprecedented heights in the US as the industry finds greater traction with lawmakers.
The US House of Representatives could see a Wednesday vote on the Clarity Act and a Thursday morning vote on the GENIUS Act.
Dogecoin (DOGE) slumped by 6.3 per cent to $0.1921, Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 4.2 per cent to $117,019.45, Litecoin (LTC) depreciated by 3.8 per cent to $93.01, Cardano (ADA) lost 3.6 per cent to trade at $0.7259, Solana (SOL) declined by 3.3 per cent to $160.64, Binance Coin (BNB) went down by 2.3 per cent to $681.95, Ethereum (ETH) shrank by 1.4 per cent to $2,985.92, and Ripple (XRP) slid by 1.2 per cent to $2.87, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.