The Naira gained 36 Kobo or 0.02 per cent against the United States Dollar on Wednesday, September 24 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) segment to close at N1,488.56/$1, in contrast to the N1,488.92/$1 it was traded on Tuesday.
In the same vein, its value improved against the Pound Sterling in the same market window yesterday by N10.29 to settle at N2,001.08/£1 compared with the previous day’s N2,011.37/£1, and appreciated against the Euro by N7.07 to close at N1,747.28/€1 versus the N1,754.35/€1 it was exchanged a day earlier.
Also, in the black market, the Nigerian Naira chalked up N5 against the greenback at midweek to quote at N1,505/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,510/$1.
The strengthening of the Naira during the trading day aligns with improved support for the local currency by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) via actions and policy, seeing the Naira hold expected trading range of N1,480 and N1,550 per Dollar.
On Tuesday, at the 302nd Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) lowered the country’s interest rate by 50 basis points to 27 per cent from 27.50 per cent, marking the first rate cut since 2020. The reduction comes after three consecutive pauses in rate adjustments and follows six consecutive rate hikes recorded throughout 2024.
The Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, also highlighted remarkable rise in the country’s reserves which hit a peak of $43 billion this month.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it remained bearish as US government shutdown risks mounted and spooked traders and investors. The White House is preparing for potential job cuts, as Congress must pass a funding measure to prevent the government from running out of money by the end of September.
Ethereum (ETH) fell by 3.9 per cent to $4,010.02, Solana (SOL) declined by 2.8 per cent to $203.97, Litecoin (LTC) depreciated by 2.7 per cent to $104.16, Cardano (ADA) slumped by 2.6 per cent to $0.7927, Binance Coin (BNB) crumbled by 2.1 per cent to $993.87, Dogecoin (DOGE) crashed by 1.9 per cent to $0.2341 and Bitcoin (BTC) plunged by 0.8 per cent to $111,736.80.
However, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.2 per cent to $2.85, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.