Monday, 23rd May 2022: The exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar closed at N420.33/$1 at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window, where forex is traded officially.
Naira depreciated by 0.31% compared to N419.02/$1 recorded as of the close of trading activities on Friday, 20th May 2022. Also, a total of $72.25 million in FX exchanged hands in the market on Monday, representing a 55.9% decline compared to $170.58 million traded in the past session.
Naira traded lower against the US dollar in the early hours of Tuesday at N606.2/$1, representing a 0.36% depreciation compared to N604/$1 recorded on Monday morning. This is also the highest rate recorded in the past eight trading sessions.
Meanwhile, the exchange rate at the parallel market recorded a 0.17% marginal gain to close at N604/$1 on Monday, compared to N605/$1 recorded as of the end of trading on Friday, 20th May 2022.
Nigeria’s external reserves depreciated further by 0.11% on Friday to stand at $38.75 billion from $38.79 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 resumed trading activities for the week on a negative note, as the exchange rate depreciated by 0.31% to close at N420.33/$1.
- The opening indicative rate closed at N418.54/$1 on Monday, 23rd May 2022, 19 kobo depreciation compared to N418.35/$1 recorded on Friday, 20th May 2022.
- Furthermore, an exchange rate of N444/$1 was the highest rate recorded during intra-day trading before it settled at N420.33/$1, while it sold for as low as N413/$1 during intra-day trading.
- A total of $75.25 million exchanged hands on Monday, representing a 55.89% decline compared to $170.58 million traded on Friday, last week.
Crypto market update
The crypto market closed bearish on Monday, as the industry lost 2.05% in market capitalization to stand at $1.25 trillion as of 22:46 (WAT). Flagship crypto asset, bitcoin recorded a 3% decline to trade at $29,357.44.
Similarly, Ethereum recorded a 2.2% price decline to trade at $1,996.03, while Solana at $50.445 recorded a 3.78% decline.
However, despite the downturn recorded in the previous trading session, the market started on a positive note on Tuesday, with a 0.61% industry capitalization growth as bitcoin already gained 0.68% in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
