Naira Appreciates by 58 Kobo to N1,599.57/$1 at the IAFEM

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar by 58 Kobo or 0.04 per cent to N1,599.57/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, May 16 versus the N1,600.15/$1 it was exchanged in the previous day.

Equally, it improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment yesterday by N3.05 to settle at N2,123.42/£1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N2,126.47/£1 and gained N3.06 on the Euro to finish at N1,788.01/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s price of N1,791.25/€1.

However, in the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the Dollar during the trading session at N1,625/$1.

The improvement recorded by the Nigerian currency in the spot market on Friday came as the market found a direction in the recent US-China tariff, which had threatened the stability of the global stiles.

Support also came from the efforts of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to keep stabilising the FX market against external shocks.

At the cryptocurrency market, most of the tokens were affected by the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index, which showed a 7.3 per cent rise versus the 6.5 per cent last month.

This happened amid strong comeback since US and Chinese officials earlier this week agreed on a 90-day truce in their tariff measures, eased investors’ fears of escalating global trade tensions and rising risk to the economy.

Now, investors are hopes that there will be more clarity on the trade front in the weeks ahead.

President Donald Trump said Friday his administration would send letters to many countries detailing new tariff rates, possibly over the next two to three weeks. Those letters would take the place of trade negotiations with countries where the US doesn’t have time to meet.