Friday, 17th September 2021: The exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar closed at N412.88/$1, at the official Investors and Exporters window.
Naira appreciated against the US dollar on Friday, to close at N412.88/$1, representing a 0.05% gain compared to N413.07/$1 recorded on Thursday, 16th September 2021.
On the other hand, the exchange rate at the parallel market closed at N560/$1 on Friday, the same as recorded in the previous trading day. This is according to information obtained from Bureau De Change operators, contacted by the Nairametrics team.
Nigeria recorded a further boost of $94.66 million in its foreign reserve to close at $35.37 billion, according to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria. So far in the month of September, the CBN has recorded a total reserve gain of $1.35 billion
Trading at the official NAFEX window
Exchange rate gained against the US dollar on Friday 17th September 2021 to close the week at N412.88 to a dollar, representing a 0.05% appreciation compared to N413.07/$1 recorded in the previous trading day.
- The opening indicative rate closed at N412.49/$1 on Friday, representing a 15 kobo gain when compared to N412.64/$1 recorded on Thursday, 16th September 2021.
- An exchange rate of N414 to a dollar was the highest rate recorded during intra-day trading before it settled at N412.88/$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 increased significantly by 81% on Friday, 17th September 2021.
- According to data tracked by Nairametrics from FMDQ, forex turnover appreciated from $126.96 million recorded on Thursday to $229.79 million on Friday 17th September 2021.
Cryptocurrency watch
The crypto market closed on Sunday on a bearish note with a 1.54% decline to close at $2.145 trillion, representing a $33.6 billion loss.
The world’s most popular crypto asset dipped 1.5% on Sunday to close at $47,602. Ethereum, in the same vein, recorded a price decline of 2.2% to close at $3,360.12, while XRP recorded a marginal gain of 0.07% to close at $1.07633.
A recent report has obtained from Usefultulips.org shows that bitcoin trade in Nigerian rose to $44.4 million in August, indicating a new record high compared to $38.5 it had recorded in May of the year.
Crude oil price
Brent Crude dipped marginally on Sunday by 0.44% but still very much above the $75 per barrel threshold as it closed at $75.34 per barrel. The crude oil prices were on the reds on Sunday, dampened by negative sentiments.
WTI Crude also dipped 0.56% to close at $71.97 per barrel, while Bonny Light Nigeria’s crude oil recorded a decline of 0.14% in price to close at $73.5 per barrel on Sunday. Natural Gas recorded a significant decline of 4.31% to close at $5.105.
The market had climbed higher in the previous week on the back of the forecast on the demand of crude oil made by OPEC on Monday. According to OPEC, oil demand worldwide is expected to jump by around 4.2 million bpd in 2020 compared to 2021, representing an upward revision of 900,000 bpd compared to the previous month’s assessment.
A quick check, reveals that the crude oil market started the week on a bearish note as Brent dropped below $75 to trade at $74.82 per barrel as of the time of writing this report.
External reserve
Nigeria’s foreign reserve gained $94.7 million on Thursday, 16th September 2021 to close at $35.37 billion compared to $35.27 billion recorded as of the previous day. The latest increase represents a 0.27% boost in the country’s foreign reserve.
The reserve has now gained $1.35 billion in the month of September, reducing the year-to-date loss to just $7.58 million compared to $35.37 billion recorded as of 31st December 2020.
The recent increase in the reserve position, which has continued for 16 consecutive days is in line with recent reports which had suggested that Nigeria’s foreign reserve position could grow as high as $40 billion by the end of September 2021.
Disclaimer: Nairametrics does not set or determine forex rates. The official NAFEX rates are obtained from the website of the FMDQOTC. Parallel market rates are obtained from various sources including online media outlets. The rates you buy or sell forex may be different from what is captured in this article.