The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar by 0.21 per cent or N3.40 on Friday, May 23 to sell for N1,581.59/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), in contrast to the N1,584.99/$1 it was traded a day earlier.
This was influenced by the recent assurance given by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to strengthen and keep stabilising the Nigerian financial system.
Also in the week, the apex bank retained the country’s benchmark interest rate at 27.50 per cent to further keep tabs on slowing inflation.
The Nigerian Naira also improved its value against the Euro in the official market yesterday by 84 Kobo to quote at N1,791.11/€1 compared with Thursday’s closing price of N1,791.95/€1 but depreciated against the Pound Sterling by N8.80 to trade at N2,136.76/£1 versus the preceding session’s N2,127.96/£1.
At the parallel market, the local currency gained N7 against the US Dollar to settle at N1,620/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,627/$1.
As for the crypto market, profit-taking was witnessed amid US President Donald Trump’s surprising tariff plan for the European Union (EU).
Amid the increased uncertainty, the overall market sentiment remains cautiously optimistic, buoyed by Bitcoin’s strong performance and a global crypto market cap surpassing $3.5 trillion, up significantly from recent months.
However, over $560 million was liquidated in the past 24 hours event triggered by tariff concerns, which has introduced unpredictability and tempered bullish enthusiasm.
Dogecoin (DOGE) slumped by 6.8 per cent to sell at $0.2281, Cardano (ADA) fell by 6.4 per cent to $0.7601, Solana (SOL) declined by 4.2 per cent to $174.70, Ethereum (ETH) dropped 4.1 per cent to trade at $2,555.03, Litecoin (LTC) crumbled by 3.7 per cent to $96.79, Ripple (XRP) went down by 3.6 per cent to $2.34, Binance Coin (BNB) depreciated by 2.3 per cent to $669.69, and Bitcoin (BTC) tumbled by 2.3 per cent to $108,146.17, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.