EQUITIES
Bargain-hunting activities continued today in the Nigerian equities market, with MTNN (+4.3%), WAPCO (+7.6%), GTCO (+4.0%) and DANGSUGAR (+10.0%) lifting the bourse. Consequently, the All-Share Index ended the session 1.0% higher at 139,278.67 points, with the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns printing at +16.1% and +35.2%, respectively.
The total volume traded declined by 2.0% to 922.03 million units, valued at NGN35.40 billion, and exchanged in 36,423 deals. FIDELITYBK was the most traded stock by volume at 90.40 million units, while MTNN was the most traded stock by value at NGN3.35 billion.
Sectoral performance was mixed, as the Banking (+1.9%), Industrial Goods (+1.4%), and Consumer Goods (+0.1%) indices closed higher, while the Oil & Gas (-0.1%) and Insurance (-1.0%) indices declined.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.3x), as 38 tickers gained relative to 30 losers. MULTIVERSE (+10.0%) and ROYALEX (+10.0%) led the gainers, while ABBEYBDS (-10.0%) and FTNCOCOA (-10.0%) posted the most significant losses of the day.
CURRENCY
The official FX rate depreciated by 0.3% to NGN1,537.00/USD.
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate declined by 8bps to 26.9% in the absence of any significant inflows into the system.
Trading in the Treasury bills secondary market was bearish, as the average yield expanded by 10bps to 17.8%. Across the curve, the average yield declined at the short (-1bp) and mid (-1bp) segments, driven by the demand for the 85DTM (-1bp), and 176DTM (-1bp) bills, respectively but expanded at the long (+22bps) end, driven by the selloff of the 344DTM (+78bps) bill. Conversely, the average yield contracted by 2bps to 24.7% in the OMO segment.
Likewise, the Treasury bond secondary market traded on a bearish note, as the average yield expanded by 7bps to 16.1%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield declined at the short (-4bps) end due to demand for the JUL-2030 (-20bps), but advanced at the mid (+21bps) and long (+4bps) segments following sell pressures on the FEB-2031 (+56bps) and JUN-2053 (+17bps) bonds, respectively.
