Wednesday,14th April 2021: The exchange rate between Naira and the US Dollar closed at N410.50/1$ in the Importers and Exporters window, where forex is traded officially.
Naira appreciated against the US Dollar at the NAFEX window on Wednesday to close at N410.50/$1. This represents a 0.12% gain when compared to N411/$1 recorded on Tuesday, as the Central Bank of Nigeria in its first sale, in 2021, to foreign investors seeking to repatriate their funds abroad, sold $20 million to them according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, the naira remained stable against the dollar for the second day at the parallel market on Wednesday, 14th April 2021 to close at N482 to a dollar, the same rate that was recorded on Tuesday, April 13, 2021.
READ: Naira falls at NAFEX window as Bitcoin rises above $63,000, an all-time record high
Trading at the official NAFEX window
Naira appreciated against the US Dollar at the Investors and Exporters window on Wednesday to close at N410.50 to a dollar. This represents a 50 kobo gain when compared to N411/$1 recorded on Tuesday, 13th April 2021.
- The opening indicative rate closed at N409.64 to a dollar on Wednesday. This represents a 6 kobo drop when compared to N409.58/$1 recorded on Tuesday.
- Also, an exchange rate of N422 to a dollar was the highest rate recorded during intra-day trading before it closed at N409.64/$1. It also sold for as low as N392/$1 during intra-day trading.
- Forex turnover at the Investor and Exporters (I&E) window dropped significantly by 59.05% on Wednesday, 14th April 2021.
- A cursory look at the data tracked by Nairametrics from FMDQ showed that forex turnover declined from $53.53 million recorded on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, to $21.92 million on Wednesday, April 14, 2021.
READ: Naira gains at NAFEX window despite 26.2% drop in dollar supply
Cryptocurrency watch
The world’s most popular digital currency, bitcoin, reached another all-time high on Wednesday, touching $64,717.01 before coming down to $62,298.51 as of Wednesday evening ahead of Coinbase’s historic stock market listing in New York.
- Bitcoin, which has been up and down over the last few weeks, crossed $64,000 on Wednesday after it had just yesterday, crossed the $63,000 mark for the first time.
- The rally has come in anticipation of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s hotly tipped US stock market listing.
- Earlier on Wednesday, the price of Dogecoin, recorded a new milestone as it went up by 54%, establishing a new all-time high of $0.1161.
- Meanwhile, Coinbase, a Cryptocurrency exchange, finally made its highly anticipated debut on Nasdaq on Wednesday, April 14, 2021, becoming the first company devoted entirely to cryptocurrency to enter the US stock exchange with a $100 billion valuation.
READ: Naira remains flat as external reserve fall to just 6 months of imports
Oil price gain
Brent crude oil price jumped on Wednesday to close at $66.63 per barrel, indicating a 3.98% increase compared to $64.08 recorded at the close of trade on Tuesday as the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports crude draw.
- The EIA in its report said that crude oil inventories had shed 5.9 million barrels in the week to April 9, compared with an inventory draw of 3.5 million barrels reported for the previous week.
- The EIA’s inventory estimate comes a day after the American Petroleum Institute reported a 3.6-million-barrel inventory draw in crude oil for the same period but a 5.565-million-barrel build in gasoline stocks, which prevented oil prices from swinging significantly up or down.
- The oil rally can also be attributable to the picking up of US oil demand as economic expansion quickens. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures surged more than 5% on Wednesday and broke out the narrow trading range they had been stuck in since mid-March.
- Morgan Stanley, meanwhile, said in a new note that it expected prices to remain range-bound through the end of the summer, at between $65 and $70 per barrel for Brent.
- Brent Crude closed at $66.63 (+4.65%), WTI Crude closed at $63.18 indicating 4.99% gain, Bonny Light, $62.56 (+0.58%), OPEC Basket (+0.67%) to close at $61.87 while Natural gas declined by 0.08% to close at $2,617
External reserve
Nigeria’s external reserve gained about $34 million on Tuesday, 13th April 2021 to close at $35.172 billion, being the highest external reserve position recorded in over a month.
- This indicates a 0.1% increase when compared to $35.138 billion recorded on Monday, 12th April 2021.
- It also represents an increase in the country’s external reserve position for the 16th consecutive day, having endured a significant downturn earlier in the year. Nigeria’s reserve has added a total of about $756 million in 16 days.
- This recent increase in Nigeria’s external reserve could however be attributed to the increase in crude oil prices recorded earlier in March before the recent bearish trade in the crude market.
- It could be attributed to the possible increase in diaspora remittance as the CBN offers incentives for every unit of a dollar received in Nigeria from diaspora remittance.
- The external reserve is likely to get a further boost, as the Federal Government recently announced plans to issue $500 million Eurobonds for 2021.
