The Naira was relatively stable against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Wednesday, October 22, despite a drop in inflows into the currency market.
Data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that the Nigerian currency marginally gained 1 Kobo against the greenback during the trading session to close at N1,463.44/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,463.45/$1.
In the same spot market window, the local currency appreciated against the Pound Sterling during the session by N4.99 to finish at N1,952.08/£1 compared with Tuesday’s price of N1,957.07/£1 and improved against the Euro by N5.45 to close at N1,697.00/€1 versus the previous day’s N1,702.45/€1.
For the third consecutive session, the Naira closed flat against the US Dollar at GTBank at N1,475/$1 and also remained stable in the black market segment at midweek at N1,490/$1.
Recent FX pressure continued to ease on the Naira buoyed by a drop in speculative activities as the impact of the CBN ’s economic reforms continue to drive positive sentiments and confidence across markets.
However, Coronation Merchant Bank’s Research Department revealed that total foreign exchange inflows through the official channels moderated to $1.10 billion last week, down from $1.64 billion recorded in the previous week, reflecting weaker inflows into the market.
Meanwhile, the digital currency market was mixed as gold recorded a single-day decline in over five years after months of gains driven by rate-cut expectations and geopolitical hedging, with the extended rally now appearing stretched.
Crypto had seen declines, but with the US Federal Reserve widely expected to cut rates again later this month, investors have taken the chance to show confidence in the assets.
Binance Coin (BNB) gained 2.8 per cent to sell for $1,097.88, Bitcoin (BTC) expanded by 0.6 per cent to $108,920.73, Solana (SOL) improved by 0.3 per cent to $184.70, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.2 per cent to $0.1920, and Litecoin (LTC) jumped by 0.1 per cent to $92.75.
However, Cardano (ADA) lost 0.6 per cent to trade at $0.6322, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 0.4 per cent to $3,846.26, and Ripple (XRP) decreased by 0.4 per cent to $2.39, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unshaken at $1.00 each.