By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira improved its value against the United States Dollar by 1.01 per cent or N15.97 at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, trading at N1,570.14/$1 compared with Thursday’s closing price of N1,586.11/$1.
This happened as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) didn’t make recent interventions as promised.
Despite the apex bank’s assurance to intervene in the FX market in the last couple of weeks, it is staying off to let the market breathe and avoid oversupplying. Regardless, the Naira has remained volatile.
Data showed that forex turnover for the session was $120.81 million, lower than the $120.20 million recorded a day earlier, indicating a marginal rise of 0.5 per cent.
However, the Naira witnessed a flat outcome against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the official FX window at N2,087.11/£1 and N1,770.74/€1, respectively.
The domestic currency appreciated against the Dollar in the black market yesterday by N10 to settle at N1,605/$1, in contrast to the preceding day’s rate of N1,615/$1.
Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies were largely positive on Friday after bulls were initiated by heavy buying pressure following indications from US Federal Reserve Chairman, Mr Jerome Powell that an interest rate cut is imminent in the world’s largest economy.
“The time has come for policy to adjust,” Mr Powell said. “The direction of travel is clear, and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.”
Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 5.5 per cent to $64,252.96, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 3.4 per cent to $2,764.80, Solana (SOL) surged by 6.7 per cent to $154.81, Dogecoin (DOGE) recorded a 5.5 per cent rise to sell at $0.1127, and Cardano (ADA) went up by 4.2 per cent to $0.3906.
In addition, Litecoin (LTC) expanded by 3.4 per cent to $66.34, Ripple (XRP) gained 2.2 per cent to finish at $0.6123, and Binance Coin (BNB) increased by 0.1 per cent to $580.02, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) sold flat at $1.00 each.