Naira Appreciates Against Dollar, Pounds, Euro

The Nigerian Naira appreciated against the United States Dollar on Monday at the official foreign exchange market managed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The Dollar to Naira exchange rate improved by 0.14 percent to N416.31 from N416.91 it was exchanged on Friday.

While the Naira remained under pressure as uncertainty surrounding Nigeria’s economic fundamentals deepened, the local currency gained against the British Pounds to N562.56. Similarly, the Naira improved against the Euro common currency from N474.99 on Friday to N470.85 on Monday.

At the Investors and Exporters Forex section, the Naira opened the week at N415.76 to a United States Dollar but closed at N416.67 against the greenback, representing a decline of 0.16 percent. Traders at that section of forex transacted $76.78 million in forex value on Monday.

Naira to Dollar Exchange Rate at Black Market

The Naira remained weak at the unregulated forex market called the parallel market but popularly known as the black market. Forex traders sold $1 between N575 to N576, according to traders at that section of forex. The CBN has warned Nigerians against patronising the black market and blamed black market operations for the nation’s forex challenges.

Crude Oil

Brent crude oil, the global benchmark for Nigerian oil, dropped from its seven-year high on Tuesday to $93.58 a barrel as at 1:13 pm Nigerian time on reports that Russian soldiers have started returning to base from the border the country shared with Ukraine.

The United States had raised alarm that Russia planned to attack Ukraine this week and immediately called on all its citizens in Ukraine to return home.  Australia, the UK, the Netherland, etc follow suit.

Brent crude oil rose to $96.73 per barrel, its highest in seven years on Monday when oil traders and investors started projection disruption of global oil supply in an already tight oil market.

“There are no prizes for guessing the driving force behind this bout of volatility,” said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM. “The Russia-Ukraine crisis has put the energy market on high alert for possible disruptions of Russian energy supplies.”

Cryptocurrency

The cryptocurrency space opened in red today on the news that Russia has started considering de-escalation as stated by President Joe Biden. Experts had predicted that the Russia-Ukraine crisis would help ease the projected decline in cryptocurrencies values peradventure the Federal Reserve decides to raise interest rates on Wednesday.

However, with Russian soldiers now returning to base, the market has resumed its bearish run and could drop even further if the Fed moved tomorrow or sounds strongly hawkish to curb escalating inflation.