EQUITIES
Bearish sentiments continued in the local bourse today as sell pressures on ZENITHBANK (-3.0%) and UBA (-4.1%) undermined market performance. Consequently, the NGX ASI dipped by 0.1% to close at 99,051.02 points. As a result, the MTD and YTD returns printed -0.3% and +32.5% respectively.
The total trading volume decreased by 0.6% to 347.39 million units, valued at NGN7.66 billion, and exchanged in 8,122 deals. VERITASKAP was the most traded stock by volume at 59.17 million units, while AIRTELAFRI was the most traded stock by value at NGN2.43 billion.
Across the sectors, the Insurance (-1.5%), Banking (-1.5%) and Oil & Gas (-0.8%) indices recorded losses, while the Consumer Goods (+0.4%) index advanced. Meanwhile, the Industrial Goods index remained flat.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative (0.7x), as 22 tickers lost relative to 16 gainers. TANTALIZER (-10.0%) and INTENEGINS (-9.7%) recorded the highest losses of the day, while NB (+10.0%) and PRESCO (+10.0%) topped the gainers list.
CURRENCY
The naira appreciated by 0.7% to NGN1,476.12/USD in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).
MONEY MARKET AND FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate contracted by 132bps to 28.5%, following inflows from OMO maturities (NGN37.05 billion).
The NTB secondary market traded with mixed sentiments, albeit with a bullish tilt, as the average yield pared by 1bp to 21.7%. Across the curve, the average yield decreased at the short (-1bp), mid (-1bp) and long (-2bps) segments, driven by bargain hunting in the 79DTM (-1bp), 170DTM (-1bp) and 324DTM (-2bps) bills, respectively. Likewise, the average yield pared by 1bp to 21.4% in the OMO segment.
Trading in the FGN bond secondary market remained calm, as the average yield was unchanged at 18.5%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield expanded slightly at the short (+1bp) end as players sold off the MAR-2025 (+2bps) bond but stayed flat at the mid and long segments.
