Naira Flat Against the US Dollar in the NAFEM Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira experienced a slight depreciation on Friday, May 9, at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), as it closed the day's trading session with a 0.2 per cent loss against the US Dollar.

The Nigerian currency slid by 7 Kobo to settle at N1,609.64$1, in contrast to the previous day's rate of N1,609.57$1.

Also, the Naira traded flat against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the official market during the session, remaining unchanged at N2,145.48£1 and N1,818.42€1, respectively.

The value of the Naira to the Dollar remained unchanged in the parallel market yesterday at N1,625$1, according to data obtained by Business Post.

The cryptocurrency market continued to trade in positive territory as President Donald Trump announced a comprehensive trade deal with the UK and the cumulative inflows into the spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) hit a record high above $40 billion.

According to market analysts, this led to substantial liquidations of bearish short positions, or leveraged plays aimed at profiting from price losses. A position is liquidated or forced closed when the trader's account balance falls below the required margin level, often due to adverse price movements. This leads the exchange to close the position to prevent further losses automatically.

Meanwhile, the US and China are said to be working on a trade deal but many are skeptical of a deal being reached this month.

Dogecoin (DOGE) appreciated by 7.6 per cent to sell at $0.2229, Litecoin (LTC) improved its value by 5.5 per cent to quote at $103.51, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 4.6 per cent to $663.22, and Solana (SOL) recorded a 3.6 per cent growth to sell at $171.52.

Further, the price of Ripple (XRP) went up by 1.4 per cent $2.37, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 0.8 per cent to sell for $2,366.49, and Cardano (ADA) gained 0.7 per cent to trade at $0.7952, while Bitcoin (BTC) went down by 0.3 per cent to $103,670.89, with the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) trading flat at $1.00 each.