EQUITIES
Bearish sentiments resurfaced in the domestic equities market, as the sell-offs in BUACEMENT (-4.8%), INTBREW (-8.3%) and NB (-3.7%) drove the All-Share Index lower by 0.5% to 143,064.57 points. Consequently, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled at -7.2% and +39.0%, respectively.
The total volume traded advanced by 32.8% to 738.35 million units, valued at NGN35.54 billion and exchanged in 19,919 deals. GTCO was the most traded stock by volume and value at 134.12 million units and NGN 11.57 billion, respectively.
On sectors, the Insurance (+2.7%), Oil & Gas (+0.2%) and Banking (+0.2%) indices advanced, while the Industrial Goods (-2.0%) and Consumer Goods (-1.3%) indices declined.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.1x), as 29 tickers gained relative to 26 losers. LEARNAFRCA (-10.0%) and CADBURY (-9.9%) led the laggards, while AIICO (+10.0%) and NCR (+10.0%) posted the most significant gains of the day.
CURRENCY
The official FX rate appreciated by 1.4% to NGN1,425.00/USD.
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate remained unchanged at 22.8%, despite debits for the FGN bond PMA (NGN583.52 billion).
The NTB secondary market traded on a bullish note, as the average yield contracted by 123bps to 15.6%. Across the curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-29bps), mid (-93bps) and long (-204bps) segments, driven by demand for the 85DTM (-59bps), 176DTM (-122bps) and 358DTM (-275bps) bills, respectively. Conversely, the average yield expanded by 2bps to 21.5% in the OMO segment.
Meanwhile, the FGN bond secondary market traded on a quiet note, as the average yield remained unchanged at 15.4%.
