Thursday, 12th May 2022: The exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar closed at N420/$1 at the official Investors and Exporters (I&E) window, falling by 0.3% from N418.25/$ recorded the previous day.
This represents the lowest level since the 4th of January 2022, when the exchange rate closed at N422/$1 at the I&E Window. Naira fell sharply despite a 38.19% increase in FX liquidity. A sum of $160 million in FX value exchanged hands at the official market on Thursday.
Also, the exchange rate against the US dollar gained 1.45% on Friday morning at the peer-to-peer market, trading at a minimum of N598.5/$1 compared to N607.32/$1 recorded as of the same time the previous day.
Meanwhile, the exchange rate at the parallel market remained stable at N590 to a dollar. This is according to information obtained from BDCs operating in Nigeria.
Nigeria’s external reserve depreciated by 0.13% on Wednesday, 11th May to stand at $39.07 billion, compared to $39.12 billion recorded as of the previous day. The decline in the external reserve level can be attributed to the continuous intervention by the Central Bank in the FX market in order to ensure the stability of the local currency.
Trading at the official NAFEX window
Naira closed weaker on Thursday at N420/$1, depreciating by 0.3% compared to N418.75/$1 recorded on Wednesday, 11th May 2022.
- The opening indicative rate closed at N416.5/$1 on Thursday 12th May 2022, N1.2 appreciation compared to N417.7/$1 recorded on Wednesday.
- Furthermore, an exchange rate of N444/$1 was the highest rate recorded during intra-day trading before it settled at N420/$1, while it sold for as low as N412.38/$1 during intra-day trading,
- A total of $160 million was traded in FX at the official Investors and Exporters window on Thursday.
- According to the data from the FMDQ, forex turnover increased by 38.19% from $115.78 million recorded on Wednesday, 11th May 2022 to $160 million on Thursday.
Crypto market update
The bulls returned to the crypto market on Friday morning as the industry market capitalization rallied 4.31% to stand at $1.29 trillion after flagship crypto asset, Bitcoin gained 4.95% to surge past $30k.
Second most capitalized crypto asset, Ethereum also gained 5.9% to stand at $2,070.89, while Solana recorded a 14.12% uptick to trade at $50.91. Uniswap followed in the same direction with an 11.61% gain to trade at $5.19.
Meanwhile, blockchain validators for the Terra blockchain have decided to officially halt network activity, in a move designed to prevent governance attacks following the severe devaluation of the network’s LUNA token
