The Naira further appreciated against the US Dollar in the parallel market on Thursday. October 30 as it gained N5 to sell for N1,460/$1, in contrast to the N1,465/$1 it was traded on Wednesday.
Also, at GTBank, the Nigerian Naira improved its value against the greenback during the trading session by N1 to close at N1,453/$1 compared with the N1,454/$1 it was traded at midweek.
In the same vein, the domestic currency firmed up against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) yesterday by N7.38 or 0.51 per cent to quote at N1,436.97/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,444.35/$1.
Equally, it chalked up N16.31 against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market to sell at N1,892.78/£1 versus the N1919.09/£1 it was exchanged a day earlier and strengthened against the Euro by N16.57 to finish at N1,664.59/€1 compared with the previous session’s N1,681.16/€1.
The fortification of the local currency against the different foreign currencies was buoyed by sustained interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) aimed at boosting market liquidity and stabilizing the exchange rate.
Also, speculative activities typically associated with end of the year have dropped while increased oil revenues, higher foreign reserves, and growing diaspora remittances complement policy directions of fiscal and monetary authorities.
The Nigerian government on Thursday also slammed a 15 per cent import levy on fuel importation as a way to encourage local production and ease pressure on FX.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was down as traders continue to digest comments from US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell that another rate cut isn’t a certain thing,
“A rate cut in December is far from a foregone conclusion,” said Mr Powell in his opening remarks, a comment that sent negative ripples across markets, including crypto.
Solana (SOL) shed 4.9 per cent to sell at $185.24, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 4.4 per cent to $0.6112, Litecoin (LTC) slumped by 4.2 per cent to $94.04, Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 3.2 per cent to $0.1847, and Ripple (XRP) also gave up 3.2 per cent to close at $2.48.
Further, Ethereum (ETH) declined by 2.1 per cent to $3,832.74, Binance Coin (BNB) slid by 1.7 per cent to $1,094.05, and Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 0.5 per cent to $109,643.17, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.