Naira Slips 0.03% to N1,375/$ at NAFEX, Remains N1,385/$1 at Black Market

The Naira recorded a loss of 49 Kobo or 0.03 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, May 26, trading at N1,375.41/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,374.92/$1.

However, the local currency appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N3.47 to close at N1,852.26/£1 versus Monday’s closing price of N1,855.73/£1, and gained N1.37 against the Euro to finish at N1,599.32/€1, in contrast to the previous session’s N1,600/€1.

As for the black market, the Naira traded flat against the US Dollar yesterday at N1,385/$1, and also maintained stability at the GTBank forex counter at N1,383/$1.

Interbank FX turnover increased to $73.598 million across 110 deals, indicating a significant rise from $55.786 million that passed through local banks’ records the previous day.

Market analysts noted that the Naira outlook remains stable, citing the latest round of FX inflows, which have lifted gross external reserves to $49.259 billion.

Largely, the domestic currency will close the first half of 2026 stronger as the CBN continues to inject FX inflows into the official market, due to a significant increase in FX receipts from elevated oil prices in the global commodity market.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was down on Tuesday as global stocks hit record highs, widening a recent divergence between crypto and equities.

There were also outflows as retail traders added leverage, raising the risk of sharp liquidations despite new SEC-approved bitcoin index options aimed at institutions.

Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 1.4 per cent to $75,737.18, Ethereum (ETH) depleted by 1.2 per cent to $2,075.39, Ripple (XRP) lost 1.0 per cent to sell at $1.33, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 0.9 per cent to $651.75, Solana (SOL) depreciated by 0.8 per cent to $83.86, Cardano (ADA) dipped 0.7 per cent to $0.2402, and TRON (TRX) dropped 0.2 per cent to settle at $0.3726, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.