Wednesday, 20th October 2021: The exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar closed at N414.07/$1, at the official Investors and Exporters forex window.
Naira appreciated further against the US dollar on Wednesday to close at N414.07/$1, representing a 0.16% gain compared to N414.73/$1 recorded on Monday, 18th October 2021.
On the other hand, naira depreciated marginally by 0.17% to N573/$1 on Wednesday, 20th October 2021 compared to N572/$1 recorded as of the close of trade on Tuesday, 19th October 2021. This is according to information obtained by Nairametrics from BDC operators in Lagos.
However, Nigeria’s foreign reserve recorded a further boost of $566.45 million on Monday, 18th October 2021 to close at $40.39 billion compared to $39.82 billion recorded as of the previous week. The reserve position has now surpassed the $40 billion mark, largely driven by the fund raised by the federal government to the Eurobond and recent positive rally at the global crude oil market.
Trading at the official NAFEX window
The exchange rate appreciated against the US dollar on Wednesday, 20th October 2021 to close the day at N414.07 to a dollar, representing a 0.16% gain compared to N414.73/$1 recorded on Monday, 18th October 2021.
- This represents consecutive gains for three trading days in the official forex market.
- The opening indicative rate closed at N414.18/$1 on Wednesday, representing a 28 kobo appreciation compared to N414.46/$1 recorded in the previous trading day. This also represents a positive movement in three consecutive trading days
- An exchange rate of N442 to a dollar was the highest rate recorded during intra-day trading before it settled at N414.07/$1, while it sold for as low as N405/$1 during intra-day trading.
- Meanwhile, forex turnover at the official window gained by 94.8% on Wednesday, 20th October 2021.
- According to data tracked by Nairametrics from FMDQ, forex turnover increased from $172 million recorded on Monday to $334.97 million on Wednesday 20th October 2021.
Cryptocurrency watch
The cryptocurrency market closed trading activities on Wednesday on a positive note gaining 3.54% to close at $2.656 trillion, indicating a $90.35 billion gain for crypto investors. The positive movement was largely driven by the continuous rally in the flagship crypto asset, bitcoin.
Bitcoin gained 2.43% on Wednesday to close at a new record high of $65.799.09 while Ethereum also gained over 5.23% to close trade at $4,081. XRP gained 4.67% to close at $1.14207 on Wednesday, 20th October 2021.
This surge comes as the first Bitcoin futures-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States appeared to be on track to open firmer after a strong launch on Tuesday. The Bitcoin Strategy ETF, a new exchange-traded fund linked to bitcoin futures rather than directly to the currency, rose nearly 5% on its first day of trading on Tuesday.
Crude oil price
The crude oil market closed on a positive note, rising to a record high on Monday as Brent Crude closed at $85.88 per barrel indicating a 0.94% decline.
However, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 1.55% to close at $84.25 per barrel, while the OPEC Basket dipped marginally by 0.07% to close at $83.48 per barrel. Bonny Light also gained 0.45% to close at $84.36 per barrel on Wednesday.
The other Nigerian crudes, Brass River and Qua Iboe both traded negative with 0.25% each to close at $4 per barrel on Wednesday.
External reserve
Nigeria’s foreign reserve gained $566.45 million on Monday, 18th October 2021 to close at $40.39 billion compared to $39.82 billion recorded as of the previous day. The latest increase represents a 1.42% increase in the country’s foreign reserve.
The nation’s foreign reserve has gained $3.6 billion so far in October, higher than the $2.76 billion gain recorded in the month of September 2021, while the recent increase puts the year-to-date gain at $5.01 billion.
Nigeria’s foreign reserve position has now crossed the $40 billion mark, indicating more firepower to meet up with pent-up obligations as a result of the covid lockdown in the previous year. It is worth noting that the positive movement in the country’s foreign reserve came on the back of the $4 billion raised through Eurobond and the bullish trend in the global crude oil market.
