The Nigerian Naira opened the week lower against the United States Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) foreign exchange window now adopted as the official forex window and also at the black market.

The local currency opened at N417.30 against the United States Dollar before declining by 0.60% to close the day at N421.50/$ at the I&E window. Forex traders at the window transacted forex worth $70.68 million on Monday.

For banks and international money transfer operators, the Central Bank of Nigeria buys US Dollars at N414.75 and sells at N415.75. The apex bank buys and sells Pounds Sterling N508.2761 and N509.5016, respectively. For the European common currency, the Euro, the central bank sold it at N433.0453 and acquired it at N432.0036 a unit.

At the parallel market popularly known as the black market, the Naira was exchanged at N599 for a United States Dollar in Abuja.

Speaking on why the exchange rate is that high, Abu Abdullahi, a currency trader at Zone 4 in Abuja, said demand for the U.S. Dollar is high despite persistent scarcity.

Crude Oil

Crude oil extended its gain in the early hours of Tuesday on optimism that China, the world’s largest importer of the commodity, would see substantial demand recovery after the latest data pointed to slowing COVID-19 infections in the hardest-hit areas.

Brent crude oil, the international benchmark for Nigerian crude oil, gained $2.69, or 2.4% to $114.24 a barrel at 5 am Nigerian time. The U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $3.71, or 3.4%, to $114.20 a barrel, Investors King understands.

“We are seeing a lot of signals that demand will start returning in that region, supporting higher prices,” said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho.

Cryptocurrency

Finally, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies shake off Luna-led decline to pare losses on Tuesday. Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) announced in the late hours of Monday that it was discontinuing Luna Coin and stablecoin (UST) operations to launch a new blockchain protocol that would focus on developers and building in general.

The announcement marked the end of one of the most promising cryptocurrency projects and once again reminds the world of how vulnerable the cryptocurrency space is — regardless of what creators say.

Bitcoin gained 1.99% to $30,366 per coin while Eth, a token of Ethereum, XRP (token of Ripple) and Solana appreciated by 3.15%, 3.25% and 4.39% to close at $2,084.27, $0.431744 and $55.86, respectively.

The Nigerian Naira remained under pressure against global counterparts in the Nigerian unregulated parallel market, popularly known as the black market. $1 dollar to naira today on the black market was N585 and purchased at N590 in Ibadan and Lagos.

At the Investors and Exporters’ forex window, the Dollar to Naira exchange rate dipped by 0.24% to N419 from N417.70 it exchanged on Thursday.

For the interbank market, Investors King observed that the Nigerian Naira remained largely unchanged at N415.74 against the U.S. Dollar.

Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin to Naira exchange rate remained subdued as the uncertainty surrounding the cryptocurrency space surged to a  record-high following about a 99% plunge in the value of Terra Luna Coin and its stablecoin, UST.

Bitcoin to Naira exchange rate dropped by 1.49% in the last 24 hours to N17.859 million. While Eth, a token of the Ethereum protocol dipped by 0.34% to N1.232 million, down from about N2 million it traded a few weeks ago.

The uncertainty in the cryptocurrency space also dragged on the Binance coin (BNB) as the coin of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange platform moderated to N179,834 a coin, a 0.50% decline in its value.

Luna, the cryptocurrency that once again alerted the world to the vulnerability of unregulated space, is presently trading at N0.120 per coin, down from about N57,000 it was trading a week ago.

Crude Oil

Oil prices fell on Monday as the uncertainty surrounding China, the world’s second-largest economy,  continues to drag on the commodity outlook.

Brent crude, the benchmark for Nigerian crude oil dipped by 0.7%, or 72 cents to $110.83 per barrel at 11:45 am on Monday. While the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil fell by 0.5%, or 58 cents to $109.91 a barrel.

The decline was a result of the prolonged COVID-19 lockdown in china. China, the world’s largest importer of crude oil, is said to have instituted lockdown restrictions in about 46 cities to curb the spreading COVID-19.

However, this lockdown has started disrupting China’s economic activity as retail sales contracted by 11% while factory production dropped by 2.9% in the month of April.

Experts are now predicting that despite Russia’s sanction, crude oil prices could drop further if the Chinese lockdown persists.

The Dollar to Naira exchange rate today May 5, 2022 remained mixed across key foreign exchange markets in Africa’s largest economy as foreign exchange scarcity and rising demand for the U.S. Dollar continue to pressure the Nigerian Naira.

The dollar to Naira exchange rate gained N1 from N419 it traded last week to N418 on Thursday at the Investors and Exporters foreign exchange window. At the Central Bank of Nigeria‘s regulated forex section, the U.S. Dollar was sold at N415.62, slightly better than the N415.69 it exchanged last week while the Pounds Sterling and Euro were exchanged at N519.98 and N437.85, respectively.

The central bank exchange rates are the rates at which the apex bank sells and buys from Deposit Money Banks and international money transfer operators.

Black Market Dollar to Naira Exchange Rate

In the unregulated black market, the Naira was sold at N580 to a United States Dollar in Lagos and N570 in Ibadan, Oyo State. Suggesting that the Nigerian Naira remained largely under pressure against its global counterparts.

Most Nigerians patronise the black market for their forex needs despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s warning them about the risk associated with patronising unregulated forex dealers. However, businesses and individuals that patronise that section of forex has attributed it to the inability to access forex at the central bank stipulated rate of N418/US$1 in banks.

Crude Oil

Oil prices rose on Wednesday on reports that the European Union is planning to impose sixth sanctions on Russia for waging war against Ukraine.

Brent crude oil, against which Nigerian oil is priced, rose to $110 a barrel after the news and the fact that the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points against the 50 basis points projected by experts.

Also, the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil extended its increase to $106 per barrel.

Cryptocurrency 

The cryptocurrency space came alive as projected in my previous article. Bitcoin to Naira exchange rate rose by 5.9% to ₦23,445,000 or $39,802.34.

The Eth, the token of the Ethereum protocol gained 6.63% to ₦1,734,872 a coin. Luna gained 6.9% to ₦51,408.