For the first time in a while, the value of the Nigerian Naira improved against its United States counterpart, the Dollar, in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, March 11.
At the midweek session, it gained N25.21 or 1.8 per cent on the greenback in the official market to trade at N1,376.19/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,401.40/$1.
It was also a positive outcome for the Naira in the spot market, as it appreciated against the Pound Sterling yesterday by N40.26 to close at N1,845.47/£1 versus Tuesday’s value of N1,885.73/£1, but closed flat against the Euro at N1,631.51/€1.
At the GTBank FX desk, the Nigerian currency appreciated against the Dollar yesterday by N9 to settle at N1,407/$1, in contrast to the N1,416/$1 it was exchanged a day earlier, and in the black market, it maintained stability at N1,420/$1.
The FX market pressure eased from a two-month low, as foreign reserves topped the $50 billion mark for the first time since January 2009, buoyed by a positive oil price threshold and forex inflows that could strengthen the current account balance and improve FX liquidity.
Inflows into the FX market have strengthened in recent weeks, but likewise, the US Dollar has strengthened in the international market due to the recent crisis facing the global markets involving the United States, Israel, and Iran.
As for the digital currency market, it was mixed on Wednesday amid renewed Middle East tensions, as on-chain data show persistent selling pressure and weak demand as investors grapple with conflict-driven stagflation fears and fading prospects for near-term Federal Reserve rate cuts ahead of next week’s meeting.
Solana (SOL) slumped 0.9 per cent to $85.11, Ripple (XRP) declined by 0.6 per cent to $1.38, Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 0.4 per cent to sell for $69,433.43, and Cardano (ADA) depreciated 0.2 per cent to $0.2591.
But TRON (TRX) added 1.0 per cent to sell at $0.2900, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 0.8 per cent to close at $644.54, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 0.5 per cent to $2,027.98, and Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.2 per cent to $0.0919, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.