EQUITIES
The Nigerian equities market sustained its bullish run for the eighth consecutive session, driven by bargain hunting in ARADEL (+10.0%) following the announcement of the Minister of Petroleum Resources’ approval for the sale of the Shell Petroleum Development Company to Renaissance Africa Energy Limited, as well as positive performances from TRANSCOHOT (+9.4%), and GTCO (+1.6%). Consequently, the All-Share Index advanced by 0.8% to 101,248.02 points, with the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settling higher at +3.8% and +35.4%, respectively.
The total volume traded advanced by 5.6% to 411.37 million units, valued at NGN26.30 billion, and exchanged in 10,260 deals. UNIVINSURE was the most traded stock by volume at 38.23 million units, while SEPLAT was the most traded stock by value at NGN7.50 billion.
On sectors, the Insurance (+3.8%), Banking (+0.7%), Consumer Goods (+0.7%), and Oil & Gas (+0.3%) indices gained, while the Industrial Goods (-0.6%) index settled lower.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (2.7x), as 46 tickers gained relative to 17 losers. UACN (+10.0%) and HONYFLOUR (+10.0%) led the gainers, while TANTALIZER (-9.8%) and MULTIVERSE (-9.7%) posted the most significant losses of the day.
CURRENCY
The naira appreciated by 0.2% to NGN1,551.35/USD in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM).
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate expanded by 12bps to 32.8% in the absence of any significant funding pressure on the system.
Activities in the NTB secondary market were bullish, as the average yield contracted by 2bps to 25.6%. Across the curve, the average yield declined at the short (-2bps), mid (-2bps) and long (-2bps) segments following the demand for the 84DTM (-2bps), 168DTM (-2bps) and 336DTM (-2bps) bills, respectively. In contrast, the average yield expanded by 7bps to 27.3% in the OMO segment.
The FGN bond secondary market traded on a bearish note, as the average yield expanded by 6bps to 19.3%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield expanded at the short (+23bps) end, driven by sell pressures on the MAR-2025 (+123bps) bond, but closed flat at the mid and long segments.
