WATCH THE VIDEO HERE The exchange rate of the Naira against the United States Dollar moved in different directions in the various segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday, January 8. In the parallel market, the Nigerian currency appreciated against its American counterpart by N5 during the session to settle at N1,650/$1, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing value of N1,650/$1 after trading flat for over two sessions. However, the local currency was not too lucky in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) segment as its value depreciated against the greenback at midweek by N4.67 or 0.3 per cent to quote at N1,541.70/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,537.03/$1. Business Post observed that it was the third straight session the domestic currency was losing value in the currency market this week. Available data showed that the aggregate FX inflows into Nigeria increased by 41 per cent in the first 10 months of 2024 to $79.8 billion from $55.6 billion in the same period of 2023, as per the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its Economic Report for October 2024. The apex bank disclosed that in the period under consideration, the nation recorded a 1.4 per cent decline in aggregated FX outflows to $29.84 billion from the $30.29 billion posted in the first 10 months of 2023. In the same official market, the Naira, however, appreciated against the Pound Sterling yesterday by N24.53 to sell for N1,899.62/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,924.15/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N10.11 to trade at N1,584.96/€1 versus Tuesday’s price of N1,595.07/€1. As for the cryptocurrency market, it was bearish as macro jitters and the global bond rout accelerated the sell-off in crypto prices. Strong US economic data, surging bond yields, and concerns about inflation and a hawkish Federal Reserve drove the risk-off sentiment, worsened by uncertainty around President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff policies. Cardano (ADA) fell by 5.9 per cent to $0.9341, Dogecoin (DOGE) depreciated by 3.0 per cent to $0.3389, Bitcoin (BTC) slumped by 2.0 per cent to $94,540.80, Solana (SOL) depreciated by 1.2 per cent to $194.16, Litecoin (LTC) dropped 1.1 per cent to $101.99, and Ethereum (ETH) waned by 0.6 per cent to $3,329.38. On the flip side, Ripple (XRP) added 1.7 per cent to close at $2.35, and Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 0.9 per cent to $698.63, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.