The Naira further declined against the United States Dollar in the parallel market and the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) segments on Wednesday, August 6.
During the trading session, the Nigerian currency weakened against the US Dollar in the black market by N1 to quote at N1,543/$1, in contrast to the N1,542/$1 it was traded on Tuesday.
In the same vein, the Nigerian Naira tumbled against the greenback in the official market yesterday by N1.48 or 0.09 per cent to sell for N1,534.51/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,533.03/$1.
Similarly, in the spot market at midweek, the domestic currency slumped against the Pound Sterling by N6.84 to quote at N2,043.87/£1 versus Tuesday’s closing price of N2,037.03/£1 and declined against the Euro by N12.59 to settle at N1,783.17/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,783.17/€1.
The depreciation of the domestic currency shows the minimal risk side rearing its head although the consensus among market analysts and traders is that the Naira has the chance to appreciate further given persistent FX injections by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The FX sales to banks, and flows to unofficial currency market has helped to stabilised the Naira, and reduce exchange rates gap to minimal level that discourage speculative transactions.
Also, hoarding US Dollar in Nigeria has become unattractive and more risky due to uncertainty.
As for the cryptocurrency market, tokens soared as traders picked up cheaper prices following earlier drops after US ISM Non-Manufacturing or services PMI released on Tuesday showed tariff-driven inflation, employment weakness and trade disruptions, all pointing to stagflation, the worst outcome for risk assets like cryptocurrencies.
Market analysts warned that stagflation, which refers to a combination of high inflation, stagnant economic growth, and high employment, may prevent the US Federal Reserve from being able to cut rates to cushion slowing growth.
Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 2.2 per cent to $0.2043, Solana (SOL) grew by 1.9 per cent to $167.19, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 1.9 per cent to $120.99, Cardano (ADA) rose by 1.6 per cent to $0.7356, Binance Coin (BNB) grew by 1.3 per cent to $766.29, Ethereum (ETH) expanded by 1.2 per cent to $3,675.07, Ripple (XRP) advanced by 0.9 per cent by $2.97, and Bitcoin (BTC) went up by 0.5 per cent to $114,519.06, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.