EQUITIES
Bullish sentiments resurfaced in the local bourse, as gains in WAPCO (+3.0%), ZENITHBANK (+1.7%), and INTBREW (+7.9%) drove the All-Share Index higher by 0.5% to 120,339.90 points. As a result, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled higher at +0.3% and +16.9%, respectively.
The total volume of trades increased by 99.1% to 1.05 billion units, valued at NGN12.17 billion, and exchanged in 21,964 deals. ROYALEX was the most traded stock by volume at 218.70 million units, while WEMABANK was the most traded stock by value at NGN1.07 billion.
On sectors, the Insurance (+3.3%), Industrial Goods (+2.2%), and Oil & Gas (+1.5%) indices advanced, while the Consumer Goods (-22.3%) and Banking (-15.2%) indices declined.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (3.9x), as 59 tickers gained relative to 15 losers. NSLTECH (+10.0%) and THOMASWY (+10.0%) led the gainers, while DEAPCAP (-9.1%) and JOHNHOLT (-5.4%) posted the most significant losses of the day.
CURRENCY
The official FX rate appreciated by 0.7% to NGN1,525.00/USD.
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate expanded by 4bps to 27.0% in the absence of any significant funding pressures on the system.
The Nigerian Treasury bill market traded on a bullish note, as the average yield contracted by 20bps to 19.9%. Across the curve, the average yield expanded at the short (-18bps), mid (-48bps) and long (-6bps) segments, driven by the demand for the 78DTM (-46bps), 141DTM (-130bps) and 232DTM (-63bps) bills, respectively. Similarly, the average yield contracted by 39bps to 25.7% in the OMO segment.
Elsewhere, the FGN bond secondary market traded on a bullish note, as the average yield contracted by 33bps to 17.7%.
Across the benchmark curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-16bps), mid (-49bps) and long (-35bps) segments, driven by the demand for the FEB-2028 (-54bps), MAR-2035 (-84bps) and APR-2037 (-127bps) bonds, respectively.
