By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar by 4.5 per cent or N73.39 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Tuesday, October 5 amid improvement in the supply of forex.
The official market exchange rate yesterday was N1,561.76/$1, in contrast to the N1,635.15/$1 recorded in the preceding trading session.
Also, the domestic currency gained N43.82 against the British Pound Sterling in the spot market during the trading day to quote at N2,131.62/£1 compared with Monday’s closing price of N2,175.44/£1 and remained unchanged against the Euro at N1,788.98/€1.
The value of FX trades in the official market on Tuesday significantly went up by 100.9 per cent or $127.44 million to $253.68 million from the $126.24 million recorded a day earlier.
However, in the parallel market, the local currency weakened against the United States currency yesterday by N5 to trade at N1,680/$1 versus the N1,675/$1 it was exchanged in the previous trading session, amid the seasonal forex demand from customers.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market turned bullish yesterday as investors weighed easing concerns about a spiralling escalation in the Middle East after a Hezbollah leader reportedly supported efforts for a potential ceasefire with Israel.
The developments saw Binance Coin (BNB) go up by 3.6 per cent to trade at $583.83, with Dogecoin (DOGE) expanding its value by 2.1 per cent to sell at $0.1092, and Litecoin (LTC) appreciating by 1.6 per cent to close the day at $65.88.
In addition, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 1.3 per cent to sell at $2,449.11, Ripple (XRP) gained 0.7 per cent to settle at $0.5324, Solana (SOL) recorded a 0.6 per cent appreciation to quote at $143.83, and Bitcoin (BTC) remained around to the $62,000 mark after it chalked up 0.3 per cent to trade at $62,486.31.
However, the value of Cardano (ADA) went down on Tuesday by 0.9 per cent to close at $0.3472, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.