Market News

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian Naira started the new week on a negative note on Monday, November 2, as its value depreciated against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).

Nigerian market analysis

According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the domestic currency shed N1.68 or 0.12 per cent against the greenback in the official FX market yesterday to trade at N1,347.94/$1 versus the previous session’s N1,346.26/$1.

Equally, the local currency weakened against the Pound Sterling in the same market window during the session by N3.23 to end at N1,809.34/£1 compared with last Friday’s N1,803.58/£1, and lost N1.77 against the Euro to sell at N1,512.26/€1, in contrast to the previous trading day’s N1,503.23/€1.

At the black market, the Naira traded flat against the US Dollar on Monday at N1,378/$1, and also remained unchanged at the GTBank forex desk at N1,354/$1.

The negative outcome of the Nigerian currency in the official market came despite easing pressure, as data from the central bank showed that interbank FX turnover slipped further by 62.8 per cent to $21.765 million from $58.850 million, with the number of deals down to 23 deals from 72 deals.

Nigerian market analysis

Last week, CBN sold $950 million to banks and other authorised dealers in the foreign exchange market to address the liquidity gap and strengthen the local currency.

Activity in the interbank FX market increased as market makers continued to bid for companies arranging seasonal imports and settling non-bank corporate FX liabilities.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market crumbled as deepening selloff in US chipmakers dragged down Asian stocks hours before Americans vote in midterm elections.

Traders are weighing the risk of a Democratic sweep in Tuesday’s midterm elections against signs that the cryptocurrency market could be setting up for a rebound, with billions of Dollars in short positions and a wave of withdrawals from exchanges drawing attention.

Customers of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, have withdrawn approximately $5 billion from the platform since it resumed withdrawal services, following a massive cyberattack in which hackers stole $6.3 billion. The theft has been attributed to a hacking group linked to North Korea.

In the last 24 hours, Solana (SOL) lost 3.5 per cent to sell at $91.56, Dogecoin (DOGE) depreciated by 2.7 per cent to $0.0739, Cardano (ADA) decreased by 2.5 per cent to $0.1876, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 2.3 per cent to $76,498.82, Binance Coin (BNB) tumbled by 2.2 per cent to $694.54, Ethereum (ETH) slipped by 2.0 per cent to $2,244.78, and Ripple (XRP) fell by 0.4 per cent to $1.24.

But TRON (TRX) appreciated by 2.1 per cent to $0.3208, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.