EQUITIES
The extended bullish run in the local bourse came to a halt today as the All-Share index closed lower after 11 consecutive gains. Precisely, losses in MTNN (-3.8%), ZENITHBANK (-10.0%), WAPCO (-4.0%), UBA (-6.6%), and GTCO (-2.3%) drove the ASI lower by 0.5% to 189,362.92 points, causing the Month to Date and Year to Date returns to taper to 14.5% and 21.7%, respectively.
The total volume traded advanced by 11.5% to 1.20 billion units, valued at NGN60.19 billion, and exchanged in 86,607 deals. ACCESSCORP was the most traded stock by volume at 103.49 billion units, while ZENITHBANK was the most traded stock by value at NGN8.01 billion.
Sectoral performance was largely negative as the Banking (-3.7%), Insurance (-0.6%), Industrial Goods (-0.5%) and Oil & Gas (-0.1%) indices declined while the Consumer Goods (+2.5%) index advanced.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.1x), as 56 tickers gained relative to 26 losers. ABCTRANS (+9.9%) and REDSTAREX (+9.9%) led the gainers, while MECURE (-10.0%) and ZENITHBANK (-10.0%) posted the most significant losses of the day.
CURRENCY
The official FX rate appreciated by 0.4% to NGN1,339.00/USD.
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate expanded by 2bps to 22.8% in the absence of any significant inflows into the system.
Activities in the Treasury bills secondary market were bullish, as the average yield contracted by 4bps to 17.5%. Across the curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-5bps), mid (-1bp) and long (-6bps) segments, driven by demand for the 23DTM (-28bps), 170DTM (-1bp) and 352DTM (-44bps) bills, respectively. Conversely, the average yield expanded by 2bps to 22.8% in the OMO segment.
Elsewhere, the FGN bond secondary market traded in a lull, as the average yield closed flat at 16.0%.
