Naira falls across forex markets as cryptos plunge further with massive sell-off

 The exchange rate between the naira and the US dollar closed at N412/$1 at the Importers and Exporters window, where forex is traded officially.

Naira fell against the US dollar on Friday at the official NAFEX window to close at N412 to a dollar. This represents a 0.17% drop when compared to N411.31/$1 recorded on Thursday, 20th May 2021.

Also, the Naira depreciated marginally at the parallel market, closing at N485/$1 on Friday, May 21, 2021. This shows a N1 drop when compared to the N484/$1 that was recorded the previous day.

The massive sell-off of cryptocurrencies continued as the crypto market plunged despite supporting tweet from Elon Musk.

Crude oil prices have continued to dip further away from the $70 per barrel recorded last week, currently trading at $65.15 (Brent Crude), after recording a decline of 2.23% on Thursday.

Trading at the official NAFEX window

Naira depreciated against the US dollar at the Investors and Exporters window on Friday to close at N412/$1, representing a 69 kobo decline when compared to the N411.31/$1 that was recorded the previous day.

• The opening indicative rate closed at N411.08 to a dollar on Friday, 21st May 2021, representing an 8 kobo drop when compared to the N411/$1 recorded on Thursday.
• An exchange rate of N415 to a dollar was the highest rate recorded during intra-day trading before it settled at N411.08/$1. It also sold for as low as 394/$1 during intra-day trading.
• Forex turnover at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window declined by 25.3% on Friday, 21st May 2021.
• Data tracked by Nairametrics from FMDQ revealed that forex turnover dropped from $120.08 million recorded on Thursday, 20th May 2021 to $89.72 million on Friday, 21st May 2021.

Cryptocurrency watch

The world’s largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, dropped by about 12% on Sunday evening to close at $33,515.76, representing an over $4,550 drop within the last 24 hours.

• Bitcoin, the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency, is down by almost 50% from this year’s peak of $64,895.22 on April 14, as it suffered another sell-off that left it crashing.
• Similarly, Ether, the coin linked to the Ethereum blockchain network, dropped 11.47% to close at $2,074.14 on Sunday evening, losing $269.07 in the last 24 hours.
• Both Bitcoin and Ether, the second-largest crypto, have now lost half their value from all-time highs set last month.
• Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, tweeted on Saturday, in support of crypto but this failed to stop the selling pressure and the market plunge.