By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated by N38.73 or 2.4 per cent against the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, August 1, 2024, to exchange at N1,570.00/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,608.73/$1 amid commencement of nationwide protests, which slowed business activities.
The Naira has seen volatile levels this year even with policies from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to strengthen the FX market. In recent weeks, the apex bank has boosted the market with liquidity to arrest recent volatility.
However, wider economic tension from a planned 10-day protest eased demand as states, including Lagos, Edo, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Kaduna, and Kano among others saw people flock out to protest hunger, taming economic activities.
Data showed a decline in forex turnover by 47.4 per cent or $128.49 million to $142.00 million from the $270.81 million recorded in the midweek session.
However, the Naira witnessed a flat outcome against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the official market, closing at N2,069.11/£1 and N1,748.22/€1, respectively.
The value of the Nigerian Naira improved against the US Dollar by N10 to sell at N1,595/$1 compared with Wednesday’s closing rate of N1,605/$1.
Cryptocurrencies were largely negative on Thursday with Ripple (XRP) leading the losers group, down by 7.2 per cent to $0.5654, after the market overlooked plans to allocate $10 million in tokenized US Treasury bills on the XRP Ledger, marking the first issuance of such tokens on the platform.
Solana (SOL) slumped 4.1 per cent to trade at $161.93, Dogecoin (DOGE) recorded a 3.33 per cent decline to $0.1163, Litecoin (LTC) fell by 2.9 per cent to $68.09, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3799, and Ethereum (ETH) slumped by 0.5 per cent to $3,154.33.
Conversely, Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 0.4 per cent to $64,536.37, and Binance Coin (BNB) went up by 0.2 per cent to $570.02, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.