Naira depreciated slightly against the United States Dollar on Tuesday at the official foreign exchange window managed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The local currency was sold at N415.72 to a United States Dollar, slightly lower than the N415.63 it was exchanged for on Thursday.
Against the Pounds Sterling, the Nigerian Naira gained N19.0518 from N521.491 it was sold by the apex bank on Thursday to N502.4392 on Tuesday.
Similarly, against the Euro common currency, the Naira appreciated by N11.7929 to N434.5937, up from N446.3866 it traded on Thursday.
Naira Black Market Rate
In the unregulated black market, the Nigerian Naira remained under pressure trading at N610 to a United States Dollar in Lagos and Abuja. In Ibadan, it was exchanged at N605 on Tuesday.
Pounds Sterling is not any better, Nigerians bought the British Pounds at N748 and sold it at N740 despite the apex bank mandating it to be sold around N505. Most forex traders, however, blamed the apex bank for black market success, saying scarcity of forex forced most businesses to patronize that section of forex.
Crude Oil
Crude oil extended its bullish run on Tuesday as supply concerns outweigh COVID-19 concerns. Oil prices appreciated on reports that OPEC and allies are struggling to deliver on pledged production increases because of the capacity issues in many members.
Brent crude oil, against which Nigerian oil is priced, rose to $123.21 a barrel from $122 it opened the week on Monday while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil appreciated by $1.22 to $122.05 a barrel.
Craig Erlam, a Senior Market Analyst, UK & EMEA, OANDA in a note to Investors King said “Oil prices have steadied in recent days as economic fears and fresh Chinese restrictions have taken the wind out of the sails of the rally. The market remains extremely tight and further disruptions in Libya, where production has reportedly fallen by more than a million barrels a day since last year, aren’t helping matters.”
Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin and the entire cryptocurrency market remained in limbo as the market value of Bitcoin plunged by 50% from the year to date while other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, XRP, etch have shed closed 60%. Investors are now scrambling to cut losses and exit the unregulated market.
However, there were reports that certain cryptocurrency companies have halted withdrawal, forcing investors to go through the bearish circle.
Other cryptocurrency companies like Crypto.com, Coinbase, BlockFi, etc have started cutting jobs to cut operating costs.
