EQUITIES
Bullish sentiments persisted in the local bourse, as gains in ARADEL(+9.1%), BUAFOODS (+0.9%), OANDO (+10.0%), and WAPCO (+1.2%) drove the All-Share Index higher by 0.6% to 196,621.96 points. Consequently, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled higher to +0.6% and +26.4%, respectively.
The total volume traded increased by 11.4% to 880.01 million units, valued at NGN44.51 billion, and exchanged in 86,761 deals. STERLINGNG was the most traded stock by volume at 56.82 million units, while ARADEL was the most traded stock by value at NGN8.22 billion.
Sectoral performance was broadly positive, as the Oil & Gas (+4.5%), Insurance (+1.6%), Consumer Goods (+0.9%), and Industrial Goods (+0.2%) indices advanced, while the Banking index closed flat.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.1x), as 38 tickers gained relative to 35 losers. UACN (+10.0%) and SUNUASSUR (+10.0%) led the gainers, while FIDSON (-10.0%) and MECURE (-10.0%) posted the most significant losses of the day.
CURRENCY
The official FX rate depreciated by 2.1% to NGN1,392.00/USD.
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate contracted by 4bps to 22.3% in the absence of any funding pressure.
Activities in the Treasury bills secondary market were bearish, as the average yield expanded by 2bps to 16.6%. Across the curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-1bp) and mid (-1bp) segments, due to the demand for the 80DTM (-1bp) and 171DTM (-1bp) bills, respectively but expanded at the long (+5bps) end, due to profit-taking activities on the 353DTM (+77bps) bill. Conversely, the average yield contracted by 4bps to 21.1% in the OMO segment.
The FGN bond secondary market closed on a bearish note, as the average yield expanded by 2bps to 15.4%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield expanded at the mid (+9bps) segment, due to the sell-off of the JUN-2033 (+38bps) bond, but remained unchanged at the short and long ends.
