Tuesday, 30th November 2021: The exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar closed at N415.07/$1, at the official Investors and Exporters (I&E) window.
Naira closed flat against the US dollar again on Monday at N415.07/$1, the same as recorded in the past four trading sessions. This is despite trading as high as N456.97 during intra-day session. FOREX liquidity at the official market dropped by 40.4% to $152.98 million from $256.69 million recorded in the previous day.
On the other hand, naira depreciated further against the US dollar on Tuesday to close at N570/$1 from N569/$1 that was recorded in the previous trading session. This is according to information obtained from BDC operators interviewed by Nairametrics.
Nigeria’s foreign reserve reduced by 0.16% on Monday, 29th November to close at $41.22 billion compared to $41.28 billion recorded as of the previous day. The recent decline in the nation’s external reserve is attributed to the intervention by the apex bank in the official forex market.
Trading at the official NAFEX window
The exchange rate at the Investors and Exporters window closed flat on Tuesday at N415.07/$1, the same as recorded in the past four trading sessions. Meanwhile, it had depreciated in the previous week from N414.8/$1 to N415.07/$1 but has since maintained the same rate.
The opening indicative rate closed at N413.59/$1 on Tuesday, which represents a 16 kobo appreciation compared to N413.75/$1 recorded in the previous trading session.
An exchange rate of N456.97 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 N405/$1 during intra-day trading. It is worth noting that the N456.97/$1 is the highest rate on record at the Investors and Exporters window.
Forex turnover at the official window decreased by 40.4% to $152.98 million on Tuesday.
According to data tracked by Nairametrics from FMDQ, forex turnover at the I&E window decreased from $256.69 million recorded on Monday 29th November 2021 to $152.98 million on Tuesday 30th November 2021.
Cryptocurrency watch
The crypto market recorded a marginal gain on Tuesday, recovering from the bearish trades in the past week. The market has also printed a 0.88% marginal gain in the early hours of Wednesday, as the industry market capitalisation stands at $2.608 trillion
Bitcoin has barely moved on Wednesday, still trading at $56,971.2 while Ethereum has gained 2.26% to trade at $4,735.36. Solana also gained 4.85% to trade at $218.6 as of 7:02 on Wednesday.
Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter and a bitcoin enthusiast is set to step down from his position at Twitter. The businessman who has been known as one of the most ardent proponents of bitcoin, who also implemented a bitcoin tipping service on Twitter, will now step down from his role and to be replaced by Parag Agrawal.
Crude oil price falls to record low
The crude oil market being affected by the new strain of the covid-19 disease has recorded significant bearish trades as Brent dipped by 3.91% on Tuesday, 30th November 2021 to close at $70.57 per barrel.
On the other hand, West Texas Intermediate recorded a marginal gain of 0.86% to close at $66.75 per barrel. The price of Natural gas also gained 0.92% to close at $4.609. Meanwhile, as of the time of writing this report, Brent had gained 3.22% to trade at $71.46 per barrel while WTI had gained 3.02% to $66.18 a barrel.
The market, which had been non-reactive to the announcement by the US government to release 50 million barrels of oil from its strategic reserve, in a bid to drive the surging price of gasoline down. However, with the new strain of the virus that has proven to be vaccine resistant, crude prices saw significant downturn in the previous week.
External reserve
Nigeria’s external reserve dipped by 0.16% on Monday, 29th November 2021 to close at $41.22 billion, which represents a decline of $64.03 million compared to $41.28 billion recorded as of the previous day.
The decline in the country’s reserve level can be attributed to the continuous intervention of the apex bank in ensuring the stability of the exchange rate. The exchange rate at the official window as remained stable in the past four trading sessions.
It is worth noting that the nation’s foreign reserve had gained $5.99 billion in the month of October, as a result of the $4 billion raised by the federal government from the issuance of Eurobond in the international debt market.
The gains recorded in the previous month is higher than the $2.76 billion gain recorded in the month of September 2021. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s reserve has now recorded a decline of $604.7 million so far in the month of November, while on a year-to-date basis, the reserves have gained $5.84 billion.
