Breaking: Naira Falls Against US Dollar

News Online reports that the exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar, closed at N411/$1 at the Importers and Exporters window, where forex is traded officially.

Naira fell against the US dollar to close at N411 to a dollar on Thursday, 6th May 2021, representing a 50 kobo decline when compared to N410.5/$1 that was recorded on Wednesday, 5th May 2021.

Meanwhile, the naira maintained stability at the parallel market as it closed at N485/$1, while Nigeria’s external reserve plunged $28.94 million to close at $34.76 billion on Wednesday, 5th May 2021.

Also, the apex bank issued an indefinite extension to its Naira4dollar scheme for foreign remittances, which was introduced some months ago. This is aimed at sustaining the country’s foreign exchange market liquidity.

Trading at the official NAFEX window

The naira depreciated against the US dollar at the Investors and Exporters window on Thursday to close at N411/$1, representing a 50 kobo decline when compared to the N410.5/$1 that was recorded on Wednesday.

• The opening indicative rate closed at N410.37 to a dollar on Thursday, 6th May 2021, representing a 12 kobo depreciation when compared to the N410.25/$1 recorded on Wednesday.
• Also, an exchange rate of N420.9 to a dollar was the highest rate recorded during intra-day trading before it settled at N411/$1. It, however, sold for as low as N400/$1 during intra-day trading.
• Forex turnover at the Investor and Exporters (I&E) window declined by 38.4% on Thursday, 6th May 2021.
• A cursory look at the data tracked by Nairametrics from FMDQ showed that forex turnover decreased from $172.52 million recorded on Wednesday, 5th May 2021 to $106.34 million on Thursday, 6th May 2021.

Cryptocurrency watch

Bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, slumped by 2% on Thursday to trade at $56,358.03.

• As of 11:31 pm on Thursday, the highly valued cryptocurrency asset witnessed a decline despite soaring as high as 5.5% on Wednesday.
• However, Ethereum recorded a marginal growth of 0.07% to close at $3,530.75, capitalising on the 9.1% gain recorded in the previous day.
• The total crypto market capitalisation depreciated by 0.53% to close at $2.33 trillion on Thursday.
• Meanwhile, payments giant, Visa and financial services provider TALA have partnered to boost cryptocurrency adoption in emerging markets.
• This partnership is aimed at easing the process of converting, storing and using cryptocurrencies by the underbanked consumers.

Crude oil price stalls

Crude oil prices witnessed a bearish trading session on Thursday, 6th May 2021 as the oil price rally stalled due to the worsening covid-19 crisis in India.

• Brent Crude dipped by 0.97% on Thursday to close at $68.29 compared to its closing price of $68.96 recorded at Wednesday’s trading session.
• The decline in oil prices, which cut short the rally to $70 a barrel was due to a fresh record of new daily coronavirus cases reported by the third-largest importer of oil in the world.
• Also, according to energy analytics firm OilX, China’s crude oil imports fell by 11% in April 2021 to stand at 10.41 million barrels per day.

External reserve

Nigeria’s external reserve plunged for the 12th consecutive day on Wednesday, 5th May 2021 as it dipped $28.91 million to close at $34.76 billion.

• The nation’s foreign reserve declined from $34.79 billion recorded as of Tuesday, 4th May 2021 to $34.76 billion on Wednesday, representing a 0.28% decline.
• Nigeria’s foreign reserve has dipped $497.36 million since 16th April 2021 to date.
• Nigeria will hope to boosts its foreign reserve position as oil prices continue to rally high and the CBN intensified effort to encourage dollar remittances into the country.