EQUITIES
The domestic bourse sustained its bullish run, closing higher for the fourth consecutive session. Precisely, gains in DANGCEM (+1.5%), WAPCO (+6.7%) and ARADEL (+3.7%) drove the benchmark index higher by 0.4% to 140,365.36 points. Consequently, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled at +0.1% and +36.4%, respectively.
The total volume traded advanced by 16.5% to 767.73 million units, valued at NGN40.64 billion, and exchanged in 24,837 deals. FCMB was the most traded stock by volume at 287.77 million units, while ARADEL was the most traded stock by value at NGN23.01 billion.
Sectoral performance was broadly positive as the Industrial Goods (+1.6%), Oil & Gas (+1.3%) and Insurance (+0.1%) indices gained, while the Banking and Consumer Goods indices remained unchanged.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.7x), as 37 tickers gained relative to 22 losers. CHELLARAM (+10.0%) and FTNCOCOA (+10.0%) led the gainers, while MAYBAKER (-10.0%) and UNIONDICON (-9.7%) recorded the most significant losses of the day.
CURRENCY
The official FX rate appreciated by 0.5% to NGN1,503.00/USD.
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate expanded by 4bps to 27.0%, in the absence of any significant funding pressure on the system.
The Treasury bills secondary market traded on a bearish note, as the average yield expanded by 3bps to 18.8%. Across the curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-15bps) end driven by the demand for the 71DTM (-89bps) bill, but expanded at the mid (+1bp) and long (+15bps) segments, driven by sell pressures on the 162DTM (+31bp) and 239DTM (+33bps) bills, respectively. Conversely, the average yield contracted by 24bps to 25.3% in the OMO segment.
Proceedings in the FGN bond secondary market was bullish, as the average yield contracted by 14bps to 16.5%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-24bps), mid (-22bps) and (-1bp) segments, driven by the demand for the APR-2029 (-51bps), APR-2032 (-48bps) and JUN-2053 (-1bp) bonds, respectively.
