Market News

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian Naira rose against the United States Dollar by 98 Kobo or 0.07 per cent to N1,331.61/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, October 15, from N1,332.59/$1 on Wednesday.

The local currency also appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N1.29 during the session to trade at N1,764.26/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,765.55/£1, and gained N1.09 against the Euro to finish at N1,490.48/€1 versus the N1,491.57/€1 it was exchanged a day earlier.

At the parallel market, the Naira, however, maintained stability against the US Dollar yesterday at N1,358/$1.

Foreign portfolio investors drove momentum in the foreign exchange market, while non-bank corporates, exporters and importers contributed to dollar supply, according to market data.

However, interbank FX turnover fell by 58.9 per cent to $201.562 million from $490.855 million, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Trading activity also slowed at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) window, with both dollar transaction volumes and deal counts declining. The number of deals dropped to 128 from 179 on Wednesday, the data revealed.

Also, Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased to 14.63 per cent in September 2026 from 15.39 per cent in August, despite a 5.38 per cent increase in energy costs during the month.

The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Thursday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that inflation declined by 0.76 percentage points, marking its lowest year-on-year level in 2026, largely driven by falling food prices.

In the cryptocurrency market, there were rising outcomes as traders await remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh after hotter-than-expected inflation data.

Inflation in the US rose more than expected to 3.7 per cent in the year to September, driven largely by soaring fuel prices amid disruptions to energy supplies linked to the conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran.

The latest figure, released by the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, represented an increase from 3.4 per cent recorded in the 12 months to August, adding to concerns about the cost of living ahead of the country’s midterm elections next month.

Cardano (ADA) grew by 4.9 per cent to $0.2310, Solana (SOL) jumped by 4.2 per cent to $106.37, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $2,449.55, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 3.1 per cent to $0.0823, and Ripple (XRP) added by 2.8 per cent to $1.34.

Further, Binance Coin (BNB) improved by 1.9 per cent to $731.07, Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 1.5 per cent to $82,083.97, and Tron (TRON) climbed by 0.9 per cent to $0.3339, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.