Monday, 24th January 2022: The exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar at the official Investors and Exporters (I&E) window closed at N416.38/$1.
Naira started the week with a decline against the US dollar on Monday to close at N416.38/$1, representing a 0.09% depreciation compared to N416/$1 recorded in the previous trading session. Meanwhile, forex turnover at the official market decreased marginally by 3.9% to $136.9 million compared to $142.42 million that exchanged hands on Friday.
In the same vein, exchange rate fell by 1.04% at the P2P market on Tuesday morning, trading at a minimum of N585.5/$1 compared to N579.5/$1 recorded as of the close of trading activities on Monday.
Read: FMDQ reverses action, reports exchange rate daily on its website
Meanwhile, naira closed with a marginal decline of 0.18% to close at N571/$1 at the parallel market, after maintaining N570 to a dollar in the past three trading sessions. This is according to information obtained from BDC operators interviewed by Nairametrics.
Nigeria’s foreign reserve declined by $31.6 million to close at $40.31 billion as of 21st January 2022, representing a 0.08% decline compared to $40.35 billion recorded as of 20th January 2022.
Trading at the official NAFEX window
The exchange rate at the Investors and Exporters window closed at N416.38/$1 on Monday, 24th January 2022, which represents a 0.09% depreciation compared to N416/$1 recorded in the previous trading session
- The opening indicative rate closed at N415.31/$1 on Monday, which represents 55 kobo depreciation compared to N414.76/$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 N416.38/$1, while it sold for as low as N410/$1 during intra-day trading.
- Forex turnover at the official window decreased marginally by 3.9% to $136.9 million on Monday, 24th January 2022.
- According to data tracked by Nairametrics from FMDQ, forex turnover at the I&E window dropped from $142.42 million recorded on Friday 21st January 2022 to $136.9 million on Monday 24th January 2022.
Read: Omicron virus could spell trouble for Nigeria’s exchange rate
Cryptocurrency watch
The cryptocurrency market continues to suffer from huge sell-offs following the decision by the US Fed to raise interest rates at least three times precipitating the liquidation of most leveraged assets in the market.
The crypto market dipped by 1.17% on Monday to stand at $1.64 trillion in market value representing a $19.36 billion decline. This is despite the 1.57% gain in the price of bitcoin to trade at $36,863.1.
On the other hand, Ethereum also recorded a 3.47% decline to trade at $2,454.92 as of 10:44pm on Monday. Solana dipped by 6.68% to close at $93.095 and Terra closed at $67.0636713, representing a 3.95% decline.
However, a recent Nairametrics article revealed that the Bitcoin network has recorded a new all-time high mining difficulty of 26.643 trillion with an average hash rate of 190.71 exahash per second (EH/s), signaling strong community support despite an ongoing bear market.
Crude oil price
The bears took over at the crude oil market on Monday, as Brent Crude dipped by 0.92% to close at $87.08 per barrel compared to $87.89 per barrel recorded in the previous trading session. The bearish sentiment in the market was attributed to the strengthening of the U.S dollar.
Despite bullish factors in the oil market, one of which includes the tension between Russia and Ukraine, and the attempted drone attack on the UAE, the oil market bowed the bearish pressure as the prices of crude products dipped across spectrum on Monday.
Read: FX rate stabilizes since CBN/abokiFX controversy
Notably, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) recorded a 1.1% dip to close at $84.04 per barrel, Natural gas dipped by 0.75% to close at $3.969 per barrel.
However, the market as stabilised in the early hours of Tuesday morning as the price of Brent Crude as gained 0.79% to trade at $86.95 per barrel and WTI has gained 0.66% to trade at $83.86 per barrel.
On the other hand, Bonny Light dipped by 2.41% to close at $86.62 a barrel while other Nigerian crude, Brass RIver and Qua Iboe both trading at $89.18 per barrel represents a 1.53% gain. It is worth noting that the price for the Nigerian crude product are 1 day delayed.
External reserve
Nigeria’s external reserve dropped by 0.08% on Friday, 21st January 2022 to close at $40.31 billion, which represents a decline of $31.6 million as against $40.35 billion recorded as of the previous trading day.
The continuous decline in the country’s reserve level can be attributed to the Central Bank’s intervention in the official market in ensuring the stability of the exchange rate. It is worth noting that the nation’s foreign reserve 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.
However, in the month of November, Nigeria’s external reserve lost $611.01 million in value as against a gain of $5.99 million recorded in the previous month and a $2.76 million gain in September 2021. In December 2021, the reserve dipped by $66.17 million, while in January 2022 a total of $205.8 million has been lost in the reserve level.
