EQUITIES
Positive sentiments resurfaced in the domestic equities market today following bargain hunting in FBNH (+6.9%). Precisely, the All-Share Index gained 0.1% to close at 99,909.54 points. Accordingly, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled at -4.5% and +33.6%, respectively.
The total volume of trades declined by 20.1% to 322.65 million units, valued at NGN5.82 billion, and exchanged in 9,067 deals. UBA was the most traded stock by volume at 55.01 million units, while ZENITHBANK was the most traded stock by value at NGN1.69 billion.
Sectoral performance was mixed, as the Banking (+1.1%) and Insurance (+0.6%) indices posted gains, while the Industrial Goods (-2.6%) and Consumer Goods (-0.1%) indices declined. The Oil & Gas indices closed flat.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative (0.6x), as 26 tickers lost relative to 16 losers. LIVESTOCK (-10.0%) and CWG (-9.8%) topped the losers’ list, while IKEJAHOTEL (+10.0%) and FIDELITYBK (+9.9%) recorded the highest gains of the day.
CURRENCY
The naira appreciated by 7.0% to NGN1,072.74/USD at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate expanded by 199bps to 33.3%, following debits for the April 2024 FGN bond PMA (NGN626.81 billion).
The Nigerian Treasury bills secondary market traded with bearish sentiments, as the average yield expanded significantly by 9bps to 18.9%. Across the curve, the average yield pared at the short (-1bp) and mid (-1bp) segments following mild interests on the 85DTM (-1bp) and 162DTM (-1bp) bills, respectively but increased at the long (+18bps) end as participants sold off the 344DTM (+235bps) bill. Similarly, the average expanded by 31bps to 18.5% in the OMO segment.
The Treasury bond secondary market was mixed but with a bullish bias as the average yield contracted by 1bp to 19.2%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield advanced at the short (+1bp) end due to profit-taking activities on the MAR-2025 (+2bps) bond but contracted at the mid (-4bps) segment following bargain hunting in the JUN-2033 (-14bps) bond. The average yield was unchanged at the mid segment.
Cordros
