Tuesday, 23rd November 2021: The exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar closed at N414.8/$1, at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window, where forex is traded officially. Naira appreciated against the US dollar on Tuesday with a 0.07% gain to close at N414.8/$1 compared to N415.07/$1 recorded on Monday, 22nd November 2021. In the same vein, forex turnover at the official window increased by 86.8% to $279.37 million.
Meanwhile, naira fell significantly at the parallel market, as it closed at N559/$1, representing a 2.38% depreciation compared to N546/$1 recorded in the previous trading session. This is according to information obtained from BDC operators interviewed by Nairametrics.
Nigeria’s foreign reserve dropped yet again by 0.04% on Monday, 22nd November to close at $41.37 billion compared to $41.39 billion recorded as of the previous day.
Trading at the official NAFEX window
The exchange rate at the Investors and Exporters window appreciated on Tuesday by 0.07% to close at N414.8/$1 from N415.07/$1 recorded at the close of the previous day.
The opening indicative rate closed at N413.79/$1 on Tuesday, which represents a 26 kobo depreciation compared to N413.53/$1 recorded in the previous trading session.
An exchange rate of N450.5 to a dollar was the highest rate recorded during intra-day trading before it settled at N414.8/$1, while it sold for as low as N404/$1 during intra-day trading.
Forex turnover at the official window increased significantly by 86.8% to $279.37 million on Tuesday.
According to data tracked by Nairametrics from FMDQ, forex turnover at the I&E window increased from $149.53 million recorded on Monday 22nd November 2021 to $279.37 million on Tuesday 23rd November 2021.
Cryptocurrency watch
The crypto market enjoyed a bullish session on Tuesday with the market capitalization gaining 2.86% to close at $2.56 trillion. This is $71.14 billion higher than $2.49 trillion recorded as of the previous trading session.
Bitcoin gained 2.2% on Tuesday to close at $57,531.26, while Ethereum gained 5.91% to close at $4,335.85. The crypto market, which had endured recurrent bearish trades in recent weeks closed positive on Tuesday
Also, Luna and Solana gained 3.87% and 3.17% respectively, while Uniswap recorded a 5.64% gain to close at $22.1435.
Crude oil price
The crude oil market gained massively on Tuesday, as the price of Brent Crude increased by 3.01% to close at $82.1 per barrel, recovering from its bearish trades in the past week. Similarly, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 2.28% to close at $78.5 per barrel.
Natural gas traded bullish with a 3.72% gain to close at $4.967, while heating oil gained 2.53% to close at $2.384.
The bullish session came after the U.S Administration announced that it will make 50 million barrels of oil available from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) as a move to lower the price of oil. The SPR release from the United States is being carried out in parallel with other major energy-consuming nations, including China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom.
External reserve
Nigeria’s foreign reserve dropped further by 0.04% to close at $41.37 billion as of Monday, 22nd November 2021 compared to $41.39 billion recorded as of the previous day. The decline is attributed to the continuous intervention of the apex bank in ensuring the stability of the exchange rate. The move saw the rate at the parallel market drop from N575/$1 to about N546/$1. However, the naira as of yesterday depreciated to N559/$1 at the black market.
Meanwhile, the nation’s foreign reserve had gained $5.99 billion in the month of October, as a result of the $4 billion raised by the federal government from the issuance of Eurobond in the international debt market.
The gains recorded in the previous month is higher than the $2.76 billion gain recorded in the month of September 2021. Nigeria’s reserve has now recorded a decline of $451.32 million so far in the month of November, while on a year-to-date basis, the reserves have gained $5.99 billion.
