BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Naira falls to N522/$1 at black market; Bitcoin investors record loss after asset hit highest value; Other stories

Hello, and welcome to Business Roundup this week. Here, we bring you highlights of events that happened during the week -from the capital market to the mainstream business activities, while not forgetting the tech/economy build up.

Here are the Headlines:

• Naira falls to N522/$1 at black market
• Nigeria’s GDP grows by 5.01% in Q2 of 2021, highest under Buhari
• Oil price jumps 3.5% after touching its lowest
• Bitcoin investors record loss after asset hit highest value

Summary:

The Nigerian currency again traded weaker against the U.S dollars at the unregulated segment of the foreign exchange (forex) as currency dealers continued to take advantage of customers seeking quick access to the dollars.

According to data from Abokifx, Naira depreciated by N1 against the US Dollar at the market on Thursday, August 26 to trade at N522/$1 compared to N521/$1 it was sold at the previous session.

However, the Naira exchange rate remained constant from Wednesday versus the Pound Sterling and the Euro on the black market, at N712/£1 and N605/€1, respectively.

Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 5.01 percent in the second quarter (April, May, June) of 2021, according to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The growth rate released on Thursday is the highest witnessed so far under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Infact the last time Nigeria hit the five percent mark was in fourth quarter of 2014.

The international oil benchmark, Brent crude, against which Nigeria’s crude oil is priced sustained its recovery as price rose by 3.5 percent, or $2.44, to $71.11 per barrel on Tuesday, after days of weak sales.

While the United States West Texas Intermediate (WTI) also rose by $2.08 or 3.17 percent to $67.72 per barrel.

Concerns about global demand drove the price of oil to its lowest level since May 21 on Monday, at $64.60, before rebounding by more than 5%.

During the weekend, bitcoin saw a surge that pushed its value above $50,000 into Monday, but that appreciation didn’t last as the asset slumped again same day.

In the past three months, bitcoin had struggled to hit $50,000, trading between $30,000 to $40,000 following sell off in the cryptocurrency community in June and July.

However, on Monday afternoon, bitcoin reached $50,495.95, its highest since it topped $64,000 in April – the value later depreciated to $49,476 on Coindesk, on Monday evening.

Read also: BUSINESS ROUNDUP: CBN blocks accounts of fintech firms; Nigeria’s Inflation rate falls to 17.38% in July; Other stories

On NSE ROUNDUP: Unilever, Ikeja Hotel suffer sell-off as financial sectors lead week activities

Investors increased their investment in the Nigerian capital market this week after 1.026 billion shares worth N8.183 billion were traded in 18,102 deals.

The figure was higher than the 866.544 million shares valued at N12.257 billion that exchanged hands in 17,291 deals last week.

The Financial Services Industry, ICT Industry, and Consumer Goods led the most active sectors by volume as the former contributed 55.30 percent and 44.70 percent to the total equity turnover in volume and value respectively.

On the tech scene, the week saw a number of developments, ranging from equity raiser to product launch.

While Opay raised $400m to become the 4th unicorn in Nigeria, ComiBlock launched its venture as a crypto investment robo-advisor.

Also, during the week, ride-hailing companies in Nigeria, after a meeting, agreed to shut down operations in some part of the country.

Remarks

Thanks for joining the roundup this week. See you next week for another serving. Don’t forget, for the latest news and updates from around the globe, keep reading Ripples Nigeria.