Monday, 9th August 2021: The exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar closed at N411.50/$1 at the official Investors and Exporters window.
Naira remained stable against the US dollar to close at N411.50/$1 on Friday, which was the same rate that was recorded the previous day.
Also, naira remained stable at the parallel market to close at N510/$1 on Monday, August 9, 2021, the same rate that it traded the previous day.
The local currency maintained stability across the forex markets as dollar supply dropped by 11.8% due to demand pressure.
Trading at the official I&E window
Naira remained stable against the US dollar at the Investors and Exporters window on Monday to close at N411.50/$1, representing the same rate that was recorded on Friday, August 6, 2021.
The opening indicative rate closed at N411.39/$1 on Monday, 9th August 2021, representing a 4 kobo drop when compared to the N411.35/$1 that it closed at on Friday, 6th August 2021.
An exchange rate of N412.90 to a dollar was the highest rate recorded during intra-day trading, before it settled at N411.50/$1, while it sold for as low as N400/$1 during intra-day trading.
Meanwhile, forex turnover at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window dropped by 11.8% on Monday, 9th August 2021.
According to data tracked by Nairametrics from the FMDQ, forex turnover declined from $188.26 million recorded on Friday, 6th August 2021 to $166.06 million on Monday, August 9, 2021.
Cryptocurrency watch
The world’s most popular and largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was up by 6.47%, trading at $45,991.91 on Monday evening, as the rebound continued with the crypto hitting the highest level since May 16, when it hit $49,770.33.
Bitcoin surged past $46,000 mark on Monday morning, as policymakers hashed out last-minute compromises over how to tax crypto assets.
It rose to as much as $46,245 during New York trading hours. The rally is a continuation of recent momentum with the coin up by roughly 17% over the past week.
The rally comes as a bipartisan group of senators, who have been debating over a cryptocurrency reporting requirement in the $550 billion infrastructure bill, reached a compromise.
A major upgrade to Ethereum, the blockchain that runs ether, activated on Thursday. The upgrade, called London, includes Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 1559, which aims to change the way transaction fees, or gas fees are estimated.
Ethereum, was up by 6.49% later on Monday evening to trade at $3,105.10 at the time of writing this report.
Crude oil price
Oil plunged to a 3-week low, with Brent crude dropping by 2.35% on Monday evening to trade at $69.04 as new waves of Covid-19 exacerbated demand concerns, and investors weighed concerns about a pullback in stimulus.
Oil prices crashed by 4% early on Monday to the lowest level since May, after the world’s top crude importer, China, imposed more travel restrictions to fight what it sees as the worst outbreak since the original viral outbreak in Wuhan.
Concerns about oil demand in China and the wider Asia region continued to weigh on oil prices at the start of this week.
Following a large weekly loss in the first week of August, Brent Crude has now fallen below the $70 a barrel mark. Crude’s plunge on Monday coincided with a broader commodities selloff, with gold earlier touching the lowest since March, and copper slipping to a two-week low.
WTI Crude was up by 0.72% on Monday evening to trade at $66.96 per barrel, after dropping earlier in the day, Natural gas recorded a 0.47% drop in price to trade at $4,041. Bonny Light was down by 0.71% to trade at $69.77 per barrel.
External reserve
Nigeria’s foreign reserve dropped marginally by $4 million on Friday, 6th August 2021 to close at $33.562 billion compared to $33.566 billion recorded as of 5th August 2021.
Since the reserve started moving positively, it has gained over $468.1 million in 24 days, despite enduring a significant plunge in the previous months.
Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria banned the sale of foreign exchange to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators in the country, due to reports of the operators’ illegal trading of the dollar, trading beyond the limit threshold of $5,000 and gradually dollarizing the Nigerian economy, according to the CBN governor.