EQUITIES
Trading in the domestic equities market kicked off the week on a negative note as profit-taking activities witnessed in AIRTELAFRI (-10.0%) caused a 0.9% decline in the benchmark index. Thus, the All-Share Index closed at 98,703.68 points. Accordingly, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns moderated to +0.5% and +32.0%, respectively.
The total volume traded declined by 5.6% to 421.73 million units, valued at NGN8.95 billion, and exchanged in 10,624 deals. ACCESSCORP was the most traded stock by volume and value at 98.24 million units and NGN1.76 billion, respectively.
Sectoral performance was broadly positive, as the Banking (+2.6%), Insurance (+2.0%), Consumer Goods (+0.6%) and Industrial Goods (+0.3%) indices advanced, while the Oil & Gas index closed flat.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.0x), as 37 tickers gained relative to 18 losers. GUINEAINS (+10.0%) and CORNERST (+10.0%) recorded the most significant gains of the day, while AIRTELAFRI (-10.0%) and BERGER (-9.9%) topped the losers’ list.
CURRENCY
The naira appreciated by 3.4% to NGN1,354.21/USD at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate expanded by 139bps to 28.5% in the absence of any significant funding pressure on the system.
The NTB secondary market traded with bearish sentiments, as the average yield advanced by 25bps to 22.5%. Across the curve, the average yield expanded at the short (+118bps) end as investors sold off the 17DTM (+610bps) bill but contracted at the mid (-3bps) and long (-2bps) segments following interests in the 171DTM (-3bps) and 325DTM (-6bps) bills, respectively. Elsewhere, the average yield declined by 3bps to 18.7% in the OMO segment.
Proceedings in the FGN bonds secondary market were quiet, as the average yield closed flat at 18.8%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield increased at the short (+2bps) end due to sell pressures on the MAR-2025 (+4bps) bond but was unchanged at the mid and long segments.
