Naira strengthens by 5.1% against US Dollar in official forex market

By Sodiq Adelakun

In the official foreign exchange window, the Nigerian Naira ended the trading day on Tuesday, January 23, with a stronger position against the US Dollar. The currency appreciated by 5.1 percent or N46.73, with an exchange rate of N878.61/$1, compared to the previous day’s rate of N925.34/$1.

However, the Naira experienced a significant decline against the Pound Sterling in the official market. It dropped by N34.60, closing at N1,163.87/£1, as opposed to its previous rate of N1,129.27/£1.

Similarly, against the Euro, the Naira lost N26.36, selling for N996.05/€1, in contrast to Monday’s price of N969.69/€1.

Data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange showed that the value of FX transactions for Tuesday was $58.46 million, 20.3 percent or $14.87 million lower than the $73.33 million reported in the previous day.

In the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) window of the market, the local currency weakened against the American currency by N12 on Tuesday to trade at N1,369/$1, in contrast to the N1,357/$1 it was sold a day earlier.

Also, in the parallel market, the value of the Naira to the US Dollar depreciated on Tuesday by N5 to quote at N1,365/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,360/$1.

In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin has dropped 20 percent since its peak of $49,000 earlier this month after the United States approved its first spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), as investors who had bought in expectation of the approval sold after the confirmation. The world’s largest cryptocurrency lost 0.3 per cent to sell at $39,684.17.

Ethereum (ETH) dropped 3.2 percent to $2,238.34, Dogecoin (DOGE) declined by 2.7 percent to $0.0781, Litecoin (LTC) dipped by 2.5 percent to trade at $65.39, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 2.4 percent to $297.00, Ripple (XRP) shrank by 1.7 percent to $0.5171, and Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 0.5 percent to $0.4756.

However, Solana (SOL) rose by 0.5 percent to $83.74, and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) appreciated by 0.04 percent to $0.9993, while the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00.