Naira Gains Despite Fall In Forex Turnover As Bitcoin Rallies Above $50k 

Naira Gains Despite Fall In Forex Turnover As Bitcoin Rallies Above $50k

Naira gained against the US dollar on Thursday, closing at N414.73/$1, up 0.09 percent from the previous trading session’s close of N415.1/$1.

Despite a significant drop in the volume of forex turnover at the official window, this is the case. On Thursday, FX turnover fell by 49.9% to $107.92 million.

On the other hand, the naira fell marginally against the US dollar in the parallel market on Thursday, closing at N572/$1, down from an average of N571/$1 the previous day.

Nigeria’s foreign reserve fell by 0.03 percent on Wednesday, December 22nd, to close at $40.6 billion, down from $40.61 billion the previous day.

The continuous decline in the country’s external reserves is attributed to the central bank’s intervention in the official forex market.

Trading at the NAFEX official window

On Thursday, the exchange rate at the Investors and Exporters window closed at N414.73/$1, representing a 0.09 percent increase over the previous day’s rate of N415.1/$1.

On Thursday, the opening indicative rate closed at N413.77/$1, representing a 27 kobo increase over the previous trading session’s rate of N414.04/$1.

The highest intra-day rate recorded was N444.04/$1 before it settled at N414.73/$1, while it sold for as low as N405/$1 during intra-day trading.

On Thursday, December 22nd, 2021, forex turnover at the official window fell by 49.9% to $107.92 million.

According to FMDQ data monitored by iexclusivenews, forex turnover at the I&E window decreased from $215.29 million on Wednesday, December 22nd, 2021 to $107.92 million on Thursday, December 23rd, 2021.

Bitcoin’s price has surpassed $50,000.

The cryptocurrency market resumed trading on a positive note on Friday, with the market capitalization increasing by 0.42 percent to $2.392 trillion.

Bitcoin surpassed the $50,000 mark with a 0.26 percent gain, trading at $50,975.83.

Ethereum, on the other hand, fell by 0.61 percent to trade at $4,088.69, while Solana fell by 0.84 percent to trade at $188.5475.

Meanwhile, according to iexclusive News Nigeria, former US President Donald Trump has stated that cryptocurrency is a “very dangerous thing.”

When it comes to cryptocurrencies, he predicts “an explosion someday” that will “make the big tech explosion look like baby stuff.”

He also discussed Truth Social, his new social media platform, and his wife’s non-fungible token (NFT) venture.

Despite the difficulty of accessing the trillion-dollar cryptocurrency in the country, Nigeria has been ranked as the second most interesting country in bitcoin.

The cost of crude oil

Brent Crude was trading bearish in the early hours of Friday morning, down 0.49 percent to $76.47 per barrel.

Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 1.42 percent to $73.79 per barrel.

Natural gas, on the other hand, fell 6.16 percent to trade at $3.731 per barrel, while heating oil rose 1.02 percent to $2.331.

The Opec basket, on the other hand, remained unchanged at $74.23 per barrel.

Nigerian crude oil, Brass River, and Qua Iboe all closed positive with 1.74 percent gains, trading at $76.09 per barrel.

Bonny Light gained 2.03 percent to $75.75 per barrel.

The recent bullish trades are a result of the API estimated inventory draw of 3.67 million barrels, bringing the year-to-date drawback for the United States to 65 million barrels.

This has resulted in increased buying interest in the global crude oil market, pushing the price of a barrel of oil above the $75 mark.

South Korea, on the other hand, plans to release 3.17 million barrels of oil reserves in the first quarter of 2022.

As part of the global effort led by the United States to lower oil prices by pumping oil into the market.

External Reserves

Nigeria’s external reserves fell by 0.03 percent on Wednesday, December 22nd, 2021, to close at $40.6 billion.

This represents a $10.4 million decrease from the previous trading day’s total of $40.6 billion.

The decline in the country’s reserve level can be attributed to the central bank’s ongoing intervention in ensuring exchange rate stability.

The official window exchange rate has remained stable over the last four trading sessions.

It is worth noting that the country’s foreign reserves increased by $5.99 billion in October.

As a result of the federal government raising $4 billion in the international debt market through the issuance of Eurobonds.

Nigeria’s external reserve lost $633.47 million in value in November, compared to a gain of $5.99 million the previous month and a gain of $2.76 million in September 2021.

So far in December, the reserve level has fallen by $586.79 million, bringing the year-to-date reserve gain to $5.23 billion.