EQUITIES
The domestic equities market closed today’s trading session on a positive note as gains in DANGCEM (+1.4%), FIRSTHOLDCO (+8.0%), and ZENITHBANK (+2.4%) drove the All-Share Index higher by 0.3% to 165,901.57 points. As a result, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled higher at +0.3% and +6.6%, respectively.
The total volume of trades declined by 6.8% to 710.73 million units, valued at NGN24.00 billion, and exchanged in 45,500 deals. GTCO was the most traded stock by volume and value at 65.90 million units and NGN6.53 billion, respectively.
Sectoral performance was mixed as the Banking (+1.3%) and Industrial Goods (+0.7%) indices closed higher, while the Insurance (-1.3%), Consumer Goods (-0.2%) and Oil & Gas (-0.2%) indices declined.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.1x), as 35 tickers gained relative to 33 losers. UNIONDICON (+10.0%) and AUSTINLAZ (+10.0%) led the gainers, while CUTIX (-10.0%) and OMATEK (-10.0%) posted the most significant losses of the day.
CURRENCY
The official FX rate appreciated by 0.8% to NGN1,380.00/USD.
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate expanded by 20bps to 23.0%, despite inflows from OMO maturities (NGN1.03 trillion).
Activities in the Treasury bills secondary market were bullish, as the average yield contracted by 1bp to 18.2%. Across the curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-1bp), mid (-1bp) and long (-1bp) segments due to the demand for the 79DTM (-1bp), 170DTM (-1bp) and 352DTM (-1bp) bills, respectively. Conversely, the average yield expanded by 38bps to 22.0% in the OMO segment.
Elsewhere, the FGN bond secondary market traded on a bearish note, as the average yield expanded by 3bps to 16.2%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield expanded at the short (+1bp) and mid (+10bps) segments, driven by sell pressures on the FEB-2031 (+3bps) and JUL-2034 (+19bps) bonds, respectively, but remained unchanged at the long end.
