EQUITIES
Bullish sentiments resurfaced in the domestic stock market as gains in INTBREW (+9.6%) and NB (+3.2%) caused a 0.1% increase in the benchmark index to 106,220.94 points. Consequently, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled at -1.5% and +3.2%, respectively.
The total trading volume decreased by 77.8% to 332.76 million units, valued at NGN16.51 billion, and exchanged in 11,059 deals. TANTALIZER was the most traded stock by volume at 29.62 million units, while GEREGU was the most traded stock by value at NGN7.77 billion, respectively.
Analysing by sectors, the Consumer Goods (+1.4%), Insurance (+0.6%) and Oil & Gas (+0.1%) indices gained, while the Banking (-0.5%) index declined. The Industrial Goods index remained flat.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.7x), as 34 tickers gained relative to 20 losers. UPDC (+9.9%) and INTBREW (+9.6%) led the gainers, while UPL (-10.0%) and ACADEMY (-9.7%) recorded the highest losses of the day.
CURRENCY
The official FX rate depreciated by 0.6% to NGN1,550.36/USD.
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate remained unchanged at 32.6% as system liquidity closed at a net short position (NGN855.77 billion).
The Treasury bills secondary market was bearish, as the average yield increased by 2bps to 19.0%. Across the curve, the average yield declined at the short (-1bp) and mid (-1bp) segments, driven by demand for the 84DTM (-1bp) and 175DTM (-1bp) bills, respectively, while it increased at the long (+5bps) end following selloffs of the 182DTM (+72bps) bill. Conversely, the average yield declined by 1bp to 22.4% in the OMO segment.
Proceedings in the FGN bond secondary market were quiet, albeit with a bullish tilt as the average yield declined by 1bp to 18.2%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield decreased at the long (-2bps) end driven by demand for the JUN-2053 (-14bps) bond, while it closed flat at the short and mid segments.
