The Naira returned from break with more pressure, losing 2.6 per cent or N35.38 against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, March 23, to trade at N1,388.38/$1 compared with last Wednesday’s closing price of N1,353.00/$1.
It was the same outcome for the Nigerian Naira against the Pound Sterling in the official market, where it tumbled by N58.36 to sell for N1,860.29/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,801.93/£1, and crashed against the Euro by N53.19 to N1,609.41/€1 from N1,556.22/€1.
Similarly, the domestic currency depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX counter by N8 yesterday to close at N1,371/$1 versus the previous rate of N1,363/$1, and in the black market, it depreciated by N5 to quote at N1,400/$1 versus N1,395/$1.
The projection for the Naira appears to be changing course as it edged towards consecutive weaknesses due to disruptions to global oil supply, which have increased volatility in energy markets, making investors jittery.
This is also causing outflow for international payments, as evidenced by Nigeria’s external reserves recording drops.
Regardless, Coronation Merchant Bank’s research subsidiary expects the Naira to trade within a relatively stable range in the near term, supported by sustained foreign portfolio inflows (FPI) and improved exporter participation in the FX market.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market saw the price of Bitcoin rise by 4.5 per cent to $70,827.12 after US President Donald Trump announced a five-day pause to airstrikes against Iranian energy infrastructure, citing “productive” diplomatic talks. Meanwhile, Iranian officials denied the existence of talks, but the crypto market largely brushed it off.
Solana (SOL) improved by 6.7 per cent to $91.66, Ethereum (ETH) expanded by 5.8 per cent to $2,157.56, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 5.7 per cent to $0.095, Cardano (ADA) jumped 5.2 per cent to $0.2630, Ripple (XRP) soared 4.2 per cent to $1.43, and Binance Coin (BNB) climbed 2.3 per cent to s$639.92.
However, TRON (TRX) dropped 2.8 per cent to $0.3049, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.