EQUITIES
The domestic equities market started the week on a negative note, as losses in banking names such as UBA (-4.3%), GTCO (-2.0%), ZENITHBANK (-2.5%) and ACCESSCORP (-5.4%) drove the benchmark Index lower by 0.1% to 155,496.15 points. Consequently, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns moderated to +9.0% and +51.1%, respectively.
The total volume of trades declined by 58.5% to 503.00 million units, valued at NGN24.94 billion, and exchanged in 39,972 deals. ACCESSCORP was the most traded stock by volume at 68.92 million units, while ARADEL was the most traded stock by value at NGN5.63 billion.
On sectors, performance was mixed as the Oil & Gas (+4.2%) and Insurance (+1.1%) indices closed higher, while the Banking (-2.0%) and Consumer Goods (-0.7%) indices declined. The Industrial Goods index remained unchanged.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative (0.8x), as 24 tickers gained relative to 32 losers. DEAPCAP (-9.7%) and CHAMPION (-9.6%) topped the losers, while ARADEL (+10.0%) and NEM (+9.7%) recorded the most significant gains of the day.
CURRENCY
The official FX rate appreciated by 0.7% to NGN1,456.00/USD.
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate remained unchanged at 24.9%, despite inflows from FGN bond payments (NGN261.38 billion).
The NTB secondary market traded on a bullish note as the average yield contracted by 2bps to 17.4%. Across the curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-2bps), mid (-3bps) and long (-2bps) end driven by buying interest in the 59DTM (-3bps), 178DTM (-3bps), and 346DTM (-3bps) bills, respectively. Similarly, the average yield contracted by 7bps to 21.5% in the OMO segment.
The FGN bond secondary market traded on a quiet note, as the average yield remained unchanged at 15.8%.
