Naira Depreciates Against Dollar Across FX Markets

The value of the naira plunged against the dollar across the various foreign exchange market segments over the start of political campaigns.

The currency on Wednesday lost N8 against the greenback in the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) segment of the foreign exchange (FX) market to sell at N748/$1 compared to the previous day’s N740/$1.

Also, the domestic currency dived into the danger zone by N6 against the greenback in the black market to trade at N728/$1 compared with Tuesday’s value of N722/$1.

Similarly, the local currency fell against the US Dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&) window of the market by 4 Kobo or 0.01 per cent as it closed at N436.37/$1 versus the preceding day’s N436.33/$1.

This happened as the demand for forex increased during the session by 20.2 per cent or $20.06 million to $119.49 million from $99.43 million, according to data from FMDQ Securities Exchange.

However, in the interbank segment of the market, the Naira witnessed upward movement against the Pound Sterling and the Euro yesterday.

The local currency gained N5.42 against the Briitish currency to sell at N458.54/£1 in contrast to the previous day’s N463.96/£1 and against the Euro, the Naira appreciated by N2.17 to close at N413.98/€1 versus N416.15/€1.

The cryptocurrency market, on the other hand, recorded a boost as eight well-traded tokens increased in value with Binance Coin (BNB) growing by 4.8 per cent to sell at $283.14.

Ethereum (ETH) saw its value go up by 3.3 per cent to sell at $1,329.53, Bitcoin (BTC) grew by 3.2 per cent to $19,418.00, and Solana (SOL) appreciated by 3.1 per cent to trade at $33.43.

In addition, Litecoin (LTC) went up by 2.1 per cent to trade at $53.32, Ripple (XRP) also improved by 2.1 per cent to quote at $0.4396, Dogecoin (DOGE) saw a 1.8 per cent jump to trade at $0.0606, and Cardano (ADA) increased by 0.3 per cent to settle at $0.4336.

The US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the Binance USD (BUSD) closed flat at $1.00, respectively.