Monday, 25th October 2021: The exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar closed at N415.07/$1 at the Investors and Exporters window, where forex is traded officially.
Naira maintained stability on Monday against the US dollar to close at N415.07/$1. This was the same rate that was recorded on Friday, 22nd October 2021.
Meanwhile, the naira appreciated against the US dollar on Monday at the parallel market to close at N572/$1, representing a 0.35% gain when compared to the N574/$1 that was recorded as of the close of trading activities on Friday, 22nd October 2021. This is according to information obtained by Nairametrics from BDC operators in Lagos.
The local currency maintained stability at the official market as forex liquidity improves amid rising external reserves.
The CBN at the unveiling of its digital currency, eNaira, launched an initiative to help address the foreign exchange crisis. The apex bank announced the introduction of a financial instrument that would support 100 companies every 100 days in order to boost production and stave off importation responsible for Nigeria’s forex crisis.
Trading at the official NAFEX window
The exchange rate remained stable against the US dollar on Monday, 25th October 2021 to close the day at N415.07 to a dollar, representing the same rate when compared to N415.07/$1 recorded on Friday, 22nd October 2021.
The opening indicative rate closed at N414.05/$1 on Monday, representing a 5 kobo gain when compared to N414.10/$1 recorded in the previous trading day.
An exchange rate of N415.20 to a dollar was the highest rate recorded during intra-day trading before it settled at N415.07/$1, while it sold for as low as N404/$1 during intra-day trading.
Meanwhile, forex turnover at the official window dropped by 62.5% on Monday, 25th October 2021.
According to data tracked by Nairametrics from FMDQ, forex turnover at the I&E window declined from $240.97 million recorded on Friday to $90.36 million on Monday 25th October 2021.
Cryptocurrency watch
The world’s largest and most popular cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, closed trading activities on a bullish note on Monday evening as it went up again by 1.85% to trade at $63,005.87 recovering from a weekend dip as traders anticipate the third U.S. futures-focused Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) listing.
Bitcoin surged after a weekend loss on Monday by 2.83% over the last 24 hours. On Wednesday, the price of one Bitcoin stood at an all-time high of around $66,900.
The global crypto market cap was soaring at $2.59 trillion on Monday, October 25, up by 1.89% over the last 24 hours.
The Bitcoin dominance ratio, or the measure of Bitcoin’s market capitalization relative to the total crypto market, declined last week to 45%. The decline in the dominance ratio was due to the recent outperformance of several altcoins such as ETH and SOL.
The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Ethereum, was also up by 2.58% to trade at $4,226.12 on Sunday evening. XRP was up by 1.51% to trade at $1.11 on Monday.
Crude oil price
The oil price fluctuation continued on Monday as the WTI crude erased gains after hitting $85 per barrel, the highest level in 7 years with traders focused on upcoming talks between Iran and the European Union that may lead to a revival of a 2015 nuclear deal.
Brent crude went up as it traded for $85.99 per barrel as Goldman Sachs says oil consumption is in the process of returning to pre-Covid levels, while OPEC and its allies have been restrained in easing the draconian supply cuts imposed in 2020 to salvage prices.
The oil market’s tightness has been exacerbated by some members failing to reach their output quotas.
The skyrocketing crude prices are largely the result of gas-to-oil switching amid a natural gas crisis in Europe and Asia.
The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude dropped by 0.01% to trade at $83.75 per barrel after goig up earlier in the day, while natural gas was up by 1.87% to trade at $6,008. Similarly, the OPEC Basket was up by 0.07% to trade at $83.42 per barrel.
Also, Nigeria’s headline crude, Bonny Light was up by 1.74% to trade at $85.84 per barrel.
External reserve
Nigeria’s foreign reserve gained $159 million on Friday, 22nd October 2021 to close at $41.117 billion compared to $40.958 billion recorded as of the previous day. The latest increase represents a 0.39% increase in the country’s foreign reserve position.
The nation’s foreign reserve has gained $4.34 billion so far in October, on the back of the $4 billion raised by the federal government from the issuance of Eurobond in the international debt market. The gains recorded so far in the month is 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 approximately $5.75 billion.