Tuesday, 25th January 2022: The exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar at the official Investors and Exporters (I&E) window closed at N416.33/$1.
Naira gained marginally against the US dollar on Tuesday with a 0.01% appreciation to close at N416.33/$1 compared to N416.38/$1 recorded in the previous trading session. The exchange rate had maintained an average of N416.71 to a dollar since the beginning of the new year. Meanwhile, forex turnover at the official market decreased by 30.2% to $95.52 million compared to $136.9 million that exchanged hands on Monday.
Exchange rate appreciated by 0.94% at the P2P market on Wednesday morning, trading at a minimum of N580/$1 compared to N585.5/$1 recorded as of the close of trading activities on Tuesday.
Similarly, naira appreciated at the parallel market with a 0.53% gain to close at N568 to a dollar as against N571/$1 recorded in the previous day. This is according to information obtained from BDC operators interviewed by Nairametrics.
Nigeria’s foreign reserve declined by $74.67 million on Monday to close at $40.24 billion as of 24th January 2022, representing a 0.19% decline compared to $40.31 billion recorded as of 21st January 2022.
Trading at the official NAFEX window
The exchange rate at the Investors and Exporters window closed at N416.33/$1 on Tuesday, 25th January 2022, which represents a 0.01% appreciation compared to N416.38/$1 recorded in the previous trading session
- The opening indicative rate closed at N415.21/$1 on Tuesday, which represents 10 kobo uptick compared to N415.31/$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 N416.33/$1, while it sold for as low as N410/$1 during intra-day trading.
- Forex turnover at the official window decreased by 30.2% to $95.52 million on Tuesday, 25th January 2022.
- According to data tracked by Nairametrics from FMDQ, forex turnover at the I&E window dropped from $136.9 million recorded on Monday 24th January 2022 to $95.52 million on Tuesday 25th January 2022.
Cryptocurrency watch
The cryptocurrency market recorded a rare upward performance on Tuesday, as the market capitalization gained 0.32% to close at $1.65 trillion. Crypto flagship asset, bitcoin gained 0.05% as of 22:15 (Nigerian time) to trade at $36,742.1. However, as of press time, bitcoin has gained further by 0.6% to trade at $37,227.31.
On the other hand, Ethereum suffered a 0.6% decline to trade at $2,428.66 and Solana gained 1.61% to close at $93.38. Meanwhile, Tera dipped 4.34% on Tuesday while Uniswap recorded a 1.31% downtrend to trade at $10.56.
Crude oil price
The crude oil market has returned to bullish ways as the prices of crude products rallied on Tuesday, trending towards a $90 per barrel. Brent Crude gained 2.04% in price on Tuesday to close at $88.2 per barrel, WTI closed at $85.6 per barrel, indicating an appreciation of 2.5%.
Natural gas gained 0.5% on Tuesday to close at $4.047 per barrel while OPEC basket gained 0.59% to close at $87.98 per barrel.
On the other hand, Bonny Light dipped by 2.71% to close at $86.62 a barrel while other Nigerian crude, Brass RIver and Qua Iboe both closing at $87.63 per barrel, which represents a 1.74% decline. It is worth noting that the prices for the Nigerian crude product are 1 day delayed.
Meanwhile, the stability in the crude oil market following the previous day downturn has been attributed the inventory draw reported by the American Petroleum Institute (API). The API estimated the inventory draw this week for crude oil to be 872,000 barrels after analysts predicted a draw of 400,000 barrels.
External reserve
Nigeria’s external reserve dropped by 0.19% on Monday, 24th January 2022 to close at $40.24 billion, which represents a decline of $74.66 million as against $40.31 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 $280.4 million has been lost in the reserve level.
