Naira maintains stability at official market as forex turnover surged by over 300%
Wednesday, 17th November 2021: The exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar closed at N415.1/$1, at the Investors and Exporters window, where forex is traded officially. Naira maintained N415.1/$1 for the fourth day in a row at the Investors and Exporters window.
At the parallel market, naira also closed flat at N545/$1 on Wednesday, the same as recorded on Tuesday, 16th November 2021. The exchange rate had gained massively in the previous week to N535 to a dollar from N570/$1. This is according to information obtained from BDC operators interviewed by Nairametrics.
On the other hand, Nigeria’s foreign reserve declined by 0.06% on Tuesday, 16th November 2021 to close at $41.43 billion, representing a $23.92 million drop compared to $41.46 billion recorded as of the previous day.
Trading at the official NAFEX window
The exchange rate at the Investors and Exporters window remained flat against the US dollar on Wednesday, 17th November 2021 to close at N415.1/$1, the same as recorded in the past three days.
The opening indicative rate closed at N413.74/$1 on Wednesday, indicating an 81 kobo appreciation compared to N414.55/$1 recorded in the previous trading session.
An exchange rate of N444 to a dollar was the highest rate recorded during intra-day trading before it settled at N415.1/$1, while it sold for as low as N386/$1 during intra-day trading.
Forex turnover at the official window jumped significantly by 378% to $298.88 million on Wednesday.
According to data tracked by Nairametrics from FMDQ, forex turnover at the I&E window increased from $62.53 million recorded on Tuesday 16th November 2021 to $298.88 million on Wednesday 17th November 2021.
Bitcoin price falls below $60k
Bitcoin price dipped significantly on Wednesday to huge selloffs as the flagship crypto asset lost 0.29% to close at $59,970.52 as of 10:45pm. The decline triggered a 1.8% decrease in the industry’s market capitalisation to close at $2.564 trillion, indicating a $27.84 billion loss.
The downturn in the market came after it lost over $150 billion in the previous trading session. Meanwhile, Ethereum gained 0.62% on Wednesday to close at $4,236.06.
The bearish trade has caused a liquidation event in which $971.5 million worth of leveraged longs have been liquidated from their positions in the past two days. Data from Coinglass which formerly went by the name Bybt, revealed that a total of $971.5 million leveraged longs got liquidated in the past 48 hours.
Crude oil price falls below $80 per barrel
Crude oil prices have fallen below $80 per barrel at the global crude oil market, following recurrent bearish trades. Brent Crude dipped 2.79% on Wednesday to close at $80.13 per barrel, while a 0.42% early Thursday dip has seen the price of the crude product fall below $80 per barrel.
West Texas Intermediate in the same manner declined by 2.47% on Wednesday to close at $77.85 per barrel and currently trades on the red at $77.72 as of 7am on Thursday.
Similarly, Natural gas lost 5.47% to close at $4.894, while Nigeria’s crude, Bonny Light gained 1.26% to trade at $81.69 per barrel, Brass River and Qua Iboe both declined by 1.2% to close at $81.43 per barrel.
External reserve
Nigeria’s foreign reserve declined yet again by 0.06% to close at $41.43 billion as of Tuesday, 16th November 2021 compared to $41.46 billion recorded as of the previous day.
The nation’s foreign reserve had gained $5.04 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. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s reserve has declined by $388.93 million so far in the month of November. On a year-to-date basis, the reserves have gained $6.06 billion.