EQUITIES
The bears continued to dominate trading in the local bourse as sell pressures on MTNN (-5.0%) undermined market performance. As a result, the NGX ASI dipped by 0.4% to close at 97,359.76 points. Accordingly, the MTD and YTD returns printed lower at -2.7% and +30.2%, respectively.
The total volume of trades declined by 69.3% to 565.12 million units, valued at NGN8.53 billion, and exchanged in 6,821 deals. FIDELITYBK remained the most traded stock by volume and value at 372.91 million units and NGN3.94 billion, respectively.
From a sectoral perspective, the Consumer Goods (-0.6%), Insurance (-0.2%) and Oil & Gas (-0.1%) indices posted decline, while the Banking (+0.4%) index posted gains. The Industrial Goods index remained unchanged.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.1x), as 21 tickers gained relative to 19 losers. UCAP (+10.0%) and CUTIX (+9.9%) topped the gainers’ list, while MECURE (-9.9%) and THOMASWY (-9.7%) recorded the highest losses of the day.
CURRENCY
The naira appreciated by 2.5% to NGN1,570.00/USD in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate contracted by 11bps to 25.7% in the absence of any significant inflows into the system.
The NTB secondary market closed on a bearish note, as the average yield expanded by 14bps to 25.3%. Across the curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-1bp) and mid (-2bps) segments as investors demanded the 84DTM (-1bp) and 175DTM (-2bps) bills, respectively. Conversely, the average yield advanced at the long (+31bps) end driven by sell pressure on the 266DTM (+213bps) bill. Elsewhere, the average yield declined by 2bps to 25.3% in the OMO segment.
Activities in the FGN bond secondary market turned bullish, as the average yield contracted by 2bps to 19.5%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield declined at the short (-1bp) and long (-3bps) ends, following buying interest in APR-2029 (-5bps) and JUN-2038 (-30bps) bonds, respectively. Meanwhile, the average yield closed flat at the mid segment.
