Wednesday, 8th December 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 remained stable against the US dollar on Wednesday to close at N415.07/$1. This was the same rate that was recorded in the previous trading sessions as a drop in the country’s external reserves continues with a decline of $22 million.
However, the naira appreciated against the US dollar on Wednesday as it closed at N568/$1. This represents a N2 gain when compared to the N570/$1 that was recorded in the previous trading session. This is according to information obtained from BDC operators interviewed by Nairametrics.
The local currency remained flat at the official market as the CBN intensifies its intervention in the foreign exchange market.
Trading at the official NAFEX window
The exchange rate at the Investors and Exporters window remained stable to close at N415.07/$1 on Wednesday, the same rate that was recorded at the last trading session.
The opening indicative rate closed at N413.71/$1 on Tuesday, which represents an 8 kobo drop compared to N413.63/$1 recorded in the previous trading session.
An exchange rate of N444/$1 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.
Forex turnover at the official window remained marginally flat to trade at $225.99 million on Wednesday.
According to data tracked by Nairametrics from FMDQ, forex turnover at the I&E window stood at $225.99 million recorded on Tuesday 7th December 2021, marginally the same volume of $225.94 million on Wednesday 8th December 2021.
Cryptocurrency watch
The world’s largest and most popular cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was down by 1.21% as at the early hours on Thursday to trade $49,719.14 as it swings between gains and losses around the $50,000 price level with traders seeking direction in the wake of one of the biggest sell-off this year.
The global cryptocurrency market on Wednesday, December 8, saw a plunge again among profit bookings from investors after a market comeback the day before.
The crypto market, a day back, had regained its momentum after falling constantly over the weekend, with all major coins suffering losses amid Omicron variant scare. The Omicron variant of Covid-19 has created a panic from investors across markets, from stock to crypto, and the result was visible in their plunging numbers.
The global cryptocurrency market on the day saw a sharp fall. The crypto market lost its value on the day and stood at $2.32 trillion. This was down by as much as 3.65% over the past 24 hours.
The total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours stood at $104.09 billion as at the time of writing this article.
Meanwhile, Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization went up by 1.19% to trade at $4,372
Crude oil price
Oil extended gains with the Brent crude going up by 0.83% to trade at $76.45 per barrel as initial studies showed existing vaccines are effective against the Omicron variant of the virus, easing demand fears.
Meanwhile, crude oil prices stabilized on Wednesday morning after the Energy Information Administration reported an inventory draw of 0.2 million barrels for the week to December 3.
The report comes a day after the American Petroleum Institute surprised markets with an estimated crude oil inventory draw of over 3 million barrels that helped push prices higher.
In EIA estimates, last week’s draw compares with a modest decline of 900,000 barrels for the first week of December. At 432.9 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories remain below the five-year seasonal average.
Oil prices had rebounded since the start of the week as the initial fear that the new Omicron variant could prompt new lockdowns began to subside amid reports of mild symptoms that don’t require hospitalization
The West Texas Intermediate went up by 1.02% to trade at $73.10 per barrel. Natural gas was by 0.68% to trade at $3,841 while OPEC Basket dropped by 0.28% to trade at $71.41 per barrel.
On the other hand, Nigerian crude, Bonny Light was up by 5.69% to trade at $75.18 per barrel.
External reserves
Nigeria’s external reserve dropped by 0.05% on Tuesday, 7th December 2021, to close at $40.950 billion. This represents a decrease of $22 million compared to $40.972 billion recorded as of the previous day.
The consistent decline that had been experienced in the country’s reserve level could be attributed to the continuous intervention of the apex bank in ensuring the stability of the exchange rate.
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.
In the month of November, Nigeria’s external reserve lost $633.47 million in value as against a gain of $5.99 million recorded in the previous month and $2.76 million gain in September 2021. On a year-to-date basis, the reserve gain has reduced to $5.74 billion.
