Monday, 26th April 2021: The exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar closed at N410/$1 in the Importers and Exporters window.
Naira remained stable on Monday, at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange (NAFEX) window, as the rate closed at N410 to a dollar, the same rate that was recorded on Friday, 23rd April 2021.
Also, the naira remained stable at the parallel market to close at N485/$1 on Monday. This was the same rate that was recorded the previous day as the global cryptocurrency market was up by over 8% with bitcoin rebounding by over 7%.
The price of the world’s most popular digital instrument dropped on Friday, 23rd April 2021, while Nigeria’s external reserve continues to record a decline.
Trading at the official NAFEX window
The naira remained stable against the US dollar at the Investors and Exporters window on Monday to close at N410/$1, the same as recorded on Friday.
- The opening indicative rate closed at N410.06 to a dollar on Monday, 26th April 2021. This represents a N2.19 gain when compared to N412.25/$1 recorded on Friday.
- Also, an exchange rate of N436.55 to a dollar was the highest rate recorded during intra-day trading before it settled at N410/$1. It also sold for as low as N402/$1 during intra-day trading.
- Forex turnover at the Investor and Exporters (I&E) window rose by 48.2% on Monday, 26th April 2021.
- Data tracked by Nairametrics from FMDQ showed that forex turnover increased from $32.01 million recorded on Friday, 23rd April 2021, to $47.45 million on Monday.
Cryptocurrency watch
The world’s most priced and largest digital asset rebounded past $53,000 after hitting the lowest since March.
- Bitcoin rallied back on Monday to trade at $54,081 on Monday evening as investors took advantage of the lowest level in about seven weeks.
- According to data provided by CoinMarketCap.com, the global cryptocurrency market was up over 8% over the last 24 hours as the market was led higher by bitcoin, which was up by over 7%.
- The rebound came after recent steep price declines last week. Cryptos sold-off in what some analysts called a “healthy” correction to the exuberance seen in the market since late last year.
- The price of Ethereum, the world’s second-biggest cryptocurrency, surged on Monday rising by as much as 13% to $2,489 just shy of all-time highs.
- JP Morgan Chase and Co is preparing to offer Bitcoin fund to wealthy clients, the latest sign that Wall Street is warming to the largest cryptocurrency after it soared in recent months.
Crude oil price.
The price of crude oil dropped on Monday, April 26, 2021, amid a spike in coronavirus cases in India, the world’s third-largest importer of oil.
- This is coming less than a week before the OPEC+ group is set to increase the global oil supply.
- Brent Crude dropped by 0.62% to trade at $65.70, indicating a decline of $0.41, compared to $66.11 recorded on Sunday.
- WTI Crude went down by 0.32% to trade at $61.94, Bonny light rose by 0.60% to trade at $64.21 while Natural Gas currently sells for an average of $2.790.
- The demand for oil in India has started crashing as the death toll from the coronavirus disease keeps soaring and the record Covid-19 cases has led to tightening restrictions.
External reserve
Nigeria’s external reserve position dropped by 0.08% on Friday 23rd April 2021 to stand at $35.094 billion.
- Data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), revealed that Nigeria’s external reserve dipped from $35.123 billion recorded on 22nd April 2021 to $35.094 billion on Friday, April 23, 2021.
- This represents the fifth consecutive decline recorded during the week in Nigeria’s external reserve, having had 19 successive growths.
- The growth recorded was attributed to increasing global oil prices and some of the measures introduced by the CBN to boost dollar inflow in the country’s forex market, such as the naira 4-dollar scheme.
