EQUITIES
The Nigerian equities market traded with positive sentiments driven by buying interests in OANDO (+7.9%), ARADEL (+6.1%), and GTCO (+3.2%). Thus, the NGX ASI expanded by 0.3% to close at 98,540.93 points. Consequently, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns printed 0.0% and +31.8%, respectively.
The total volume traded decreased by 8.8% to 278.13 million units, valued at NGN26.51 billion, and exchanged in 9,481 deals. ACCESSCORP was the most traded stock by volume at 45.95 million units, while ARADEL was the most traded stock by value at NGN20.76 billion.
Sectoral performance was mixed as the Oil & Gas (+0.1%) and Consumer Goods (+0.1%) indices gained, while the Insurance (-2.1%) and Banking (-0.8%) indices declined. The Industrial Goods index closed flat.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative (0.6x), as 27 tickers lost relative to 15 gainers. CAVERTON (-10.0%) and TRIPPLEG (-10.0%) led the losers, while CHAMPION (+10.0%) and TANTALIZER (+9.1%) recorded the most significant gains of the day.
CURRENCY
The naira depreciated by 6.4% to NGN1,658.97/USD in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate inched higher by 1bp to 32.7% in the absence of any significant funding pressure on the system.
The T-bills secondary market traded with bearish sentiments, as the average yield expanded by 43bps to 23.5%. Across the curve, the average yield dipped at the short (-1bp) and mid (-2bps) segments, driven by demand for the 72DTM (-2bps) and 163DTM (-2bps) bills, respectively, but expanded at the long (+94bps) end due to profit-taking activities on the 219DTM (+178bps) bill. Elsewhere, the average yield contracted by 2bps to 25.9% in the OMO segment.
Proceedings in the FGN bond secondary were bearish as the average yield expanded by 8bps to 19.0%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield increased at the long (+17bps) end, driven by sell-offs on the JUN-2038 (+156bps) bond. Meanwhile, the average yield closed flat at the short and mid segments.
