The Naira started the new week on a positive note after its value was strengthened against the United States Dollar by N1.35 or 0.09 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, June 22, to N1,369.11/$1 from last Friday’s N1,370.46/$1.
Against the Euro, it appreciated at the official market by N5.11 to sell at N1,566.39/€1 compared with the preceding session’s price of N1,571.50/€1, but against the Pound Sterling, the local currency declined by 68 Kobo to trade at N1,815.44/£1 versus the previous trading day’s rate of N1,814.76/£1.
At the parallel market, the Naira weakened against the US Dollar yesterday by N5 to quote at N1,395/$1 versus the previous rate of N1,390/$1, and at the GTBank forex counter, it lost N4 to exchange at N1,380/$1 versus N1,376/$1.
The Nigerian currency witnessed an easing in FX pressure during the session amid a surge in the country’s foreign reserves to $51.060 billion, its highest since 2009, according to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
FX reserves gained traction as a result of lower oil imports, high crude oil prices in the global commodity market, and a surge in the nation’s production output. This is expected to bolster investor confidence in the Nigerian economy and support exchange rate stability.
Interbank FX turnover increased sharply to $65.206 million, up by more than 63 per cent from the previous close of $39.897 million, according to data published by the apex bank on Monday.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was down on Monday as a result of sell-offs triggered by risk as investors pulled out of the technology stocks that have led markets all year. A rotation out of this year’s best-performing technology and chip shares sank global equities.
Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 1.3 per cent to $63,352.91, Ethereum (ETH) lost 1.4 per cent to trade at $1,712.35, Solana (SOL) shrank by 4.0 per cent to $70.98, Dogecoin (DOGE) crashed by 2.4 per cent to $0.0814, Ripple (XRP) declined by 1.9 per cent to $1.11, Cardano (ADA) slid by 1.6 per cent to $0.1574, and Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.0 per cent to $585.34.
However, TRON (TRX) added 1.0 per cent to sell at $0.3314, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
