EQUITIES
The domestic bourse commenced the week on a positive note, as gains in BUAFOODS (+2.3%), STANBIC (+10.0%) and TRANSCORP (+1.0%) drove the All-Share Index higher by 0.1% to 145,880.77 points. Accordingly, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled at +4.3% and +41.7%, respectively.
The total volume of trades declined by 4.5% to 2.12 billion units, valued at NGN19.40 billion, and exchanged in 40,435 deals. LINKASSURE was the most traded stock by volume at 703.59 million units, while STANBIC was the most traded stock by value at NGN1.73 billion.
Sectoral performance was mixed as the Insurance (+9.8%), Consumer Goods (+1.0%), and Banking (+0.4%) indices closed higher, while the Industrial Goods (-1.5%) and Oil & Gas (-0.6%) indices declined.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.1x), as 38 tickers gained relative to 36 losers. AIICO (+10.0%) and SUNUASSUR (+10.0%) led the gainers, while ABBEYBDS (-10.0%) and ABCTRANS (-10.0%) recorded the most significant losses of the day.
CURRENCY
The official FX rate appreciated by 0.3% to NGN1,530.00/USD.
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate remained unchanged at 27.0%, closing at a net long position (NGN313.92 billion).
The NTB secondary market traded on a bullish note, as the average yield contracted by 3bps to 17.9%. Across the curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-7bps) and mid (-7bps) segments, driven by demand for the 87DTM (-37bps) and 101DTM (-73bps) bills, respectively, while it was unchanged at the long end. Similarly, the average yield contracted by 9bps to 24.5% in the OMO segment.
Elsewhere, the FGN bond secondary market traded on a bearish note, as the average yield expanded by 3bps to 16.3%.
Across the benchmark curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-5bps) end, driven by the demand for the APR-2029 (-36bps) bond, but expanded at the mid (+2bps) and long (+9bps) segments due to profit-taking activities on the APR-2032 (+6bps) and APR-2037 (+53bps) bonds, respectively.
