The Naira moved in different directions at the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday, August 13, appreciating against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) segment and depreciating in the parallel market window.
In the black market, the Nigerian currency lost N5 against the greenback during the session to settle at N1,560/$1 compared with the previous day’s rate of N1,555/$1.
However, in the official market, it gained N2.47 or 0.16 per cent on the Dollar to close at N1,534.91/$1, in contrast to the N1,537.38/$1 it was traded at on Tuesday.
Sadly, in the spot market, the local currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling yesterday by N8.91 to sell for N2,082.45/£1 versus the preceding session’s N2,073.54/£1 and lost N4.57 against the Euro to settle at N1,796.21/€1 compared with the N1,791.64/€1 it was transacted a day earlier.
Pressure eased in the market as updated FX data showed external reserves increased further, settling at $40.229 billion, marking this is the first time since January that reserves have crossed the $40 billion threshold.
This buildup likely reflects sustained Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) inflows and a recent surge in non-bank corporates, which indicates that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) can continue to back the Naira as expected.
As for the crypto market, it was up as investors eye the Federal Reserve going for a 25 basis point cut in the September meeting as pressure is ramping up on policymakers to consider deeper easing.
The US central bank has been reluctant to cut interest rates, but investors see the possibility as crypto could likely gain if it happens, barring any other factors.
Cardano (ADA) surged by 16.9 per cent to $0.9849, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 4.5 per cent to $204.76, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 4.2 per cent to $0.2452, Ethereum (ETH) grew by 2.5 per cent to $4,736.21, Binance Coin (BNB) went up by 2.4 per cent to $855.49, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 2.0 per cent to $121,602.01, and Ripple (XRP) increased by 0.9 per cent to $3.24.
But, Litecoin (LTC) closed lower by 0.7 per cent to $129.84 during the trading day, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.