Naira Slides Further against Dollar in NAFEX, Appreciates against Pound, Euro

The free fall of the Naira in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) continued on Wednesday, October 30.

The Naira fell further against the Dollar at the official market on Wednesday by 72 Kobo or 0.04 per cent to close at N1,631.17/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,630.45/$1.

According to data from FMDQ Securities, where forex is officially traded, the Nigerian currency closed the midweek session weaker against the Dollar, despite the apex bank's continuous intervention in the market.

However, the local currency closed stronger against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the spot market on Wednesday. Against the Sterling, the Naira appreciated by N18.57 to trade at N2,143.40/£1, compared with the previous day’s rate of N2,161.97/£1.

Also, against the Euro, the Naira improved its value at N18.90 to quote at N1,782.07/€1 versus the N1,800.97/€1 it quoted on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a look at the parallel market showed that the Naira depreciated against the Dollar by N5 yesterday to close at N1,745/$! compared with the previous day’s value of N1,740/$1.

On the other hand, in the cryptocurrency market, there was profit-taking on Wednesday after Bitcoin (BTC), the most valued coin, recently approached its record high, with many investors selling to lock in gains as 99.7 per cent of the circulating supply was in profit.

For instance, The Bhutan government, which holds over $900 million worth of bitcoin (BTC), moved a chunk of its holdings to exchanges sparking speculation it is on the verge of selling some of its stash in a move that may weigh on market prices.

The biggest drop was Solana (SOL) which recorded a 3.1 per cent decline to sell at $174.57, Dogecoin (DOGE) fell by 2.4 per cent to $0.1711, Litecoin (LTC) slid by 2.3 per cent to $71.61, Binance Coin (BNB) went down by 1.7 per cent to $592.27, Ripple (XRP) dropped 0.8 per cent to trade at $0.5212, and Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 0.4 per cent to $0.3581.

On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 0.6 per cent to $2,655.43, BTC rose by 0.1 per cent to $72,316.89, and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) appreciated by 0.06 per cent to settle at $1.00, while the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00.