Tuesday, 16th 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 at the Investors and Exporters window on Tuesday 16th November 2021, for the third day in a row.
Meanwhile, the naira closed at N545/$1 on Tuesday, representing a marginal appreciation compared to N546/$1 recorded a day before. 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.
The crypto market dipped significantly on Tuesday as the top crypto assets by market capitalisation, Bitcoin and Ethereum traded bearish, indicating a loss of over $150 billion for crypto investors. On the other hand, Nigeria’s foreign reserve declined by 0.13% on Monday, 15th November 2021 to close at $41.46 billion, representing a $52.72 million drop compared to $41.51 billion recorded as of the previous day.
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Trading at the official NAFEX window
The exchange rate at the Investors and Exporters window closed flat against the US dollar on Tuesday, 16th November 2021 to close at N415.1/$1, the same as recorded in the past two days.
- The opening indicative rate closed at N414.55/$1 on Tuesday, indicating an 81 kobo depreciation compared to N413.74/$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 N404/$1 during intra-day trading.
- Forex turnover at the official window dropped significantly by 54.8% to $62.53 million on Tuesday, a record low in the past three months.
- According to data tracked by Nairametrics from FMDQ, forex turnover at the I&E window dropped from $138.37 million recorded on Monday, 15th November 2021 to $62.53 million on Tuesday 16th November 2021.
Cryptocurrency watch
The global crypto market closed bearish on Tuesday, with the total market capitalisation shedding over $150 billion to high selloffs in the market. Notably, the crypto market capitalisation reduced by 5.51% to close at $2.61 trillion.
Flagship cryptocurrency, Bitcoin dipped by 4.83% on Tuesday to close at $60,532, while Ethereum recorded a decline of 6.56% to $4,262.
In the same vein, crypto-related stocks also took a hit, with shares of Coinbase Global Inc., a crypto exchange, falling roughly 4% at one point. MicroStrategy Inc., Marathon Digital Holdings Inc., and Riot Blockchain Inc. all also dropped.
Crude oil price
On the other hand, the global crude oil market closed on a positive note, after enduring multiple bearish trades in the past week. Brent Crude closed at $82.42 per barrel, indicating a gain of 0.45%, while West Texas Intermediate dipped further by 0.23% to close at $80.69 per barrel on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Natural gas gained 2.65% to close at $5.15, while Nigerian crude, Bonny Light dipped 1.33% to trade at $80.67 per barrel, Brass River and Qua Iboe both gained 1.2% to trade at $82.58 per barrel.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has projected an average of $79.4 per barrel for Brent Crude in 2022. The agency had set an average of $71.5 per barrel for the year 2021, while it currently trades around $81.73 per barrel.
External reserve
Nigeria’s foreign reserve declined yet again by 0.13% to close at $41.46 billion as of Monday, 15th November 2021 compared to $41.51 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 $365.01 million so far in the month of November. On a year-to-date basis, the reserves have gained $6.08 billion.
