EQUITIES
Bullish sentiments resurfaced in the domestic bourse as gains in TRANSCORP (+9.8%) and UBA (+2.8%) spurred a 0.3% increase in the NGX ASI to 106,780.72 points. As a result, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns printed -1.0% and +3.7%, respectively.
The total volume traded increased by 0.7% to 375.73 million units, valued at NGN10.19 billion, and exchanged in 11,447 deals. GTCO was the most traded stock by volume and value at 49.95 million units and NGN2.91 billion, respectively.
Sectoral performance was mixed as the Banking (+0.8%), Consumer Goods (+0.8%) and Insurance (+0.2%) indices advanced, while the Oil & Gas (-0.1%) index declined. The Industrial Goods index closed flat.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (2.6x), as 34 tickers gained relative to 13 losers. TRANSCORP (+10.0%) and SCOA (+9.9%) topped the gainers’ list, while SUNUASSUR (-10.0%) and MRS (-10.0%) recorded the highest losses of the day.
CURRENCY
The official FX rate depreciated by 0.1% to NGN1,504.00/USD.
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate expanded by 158bps to 28.5% following debits for the Net NTB issuance (NGN180.44 billion).
The Treasury bills secondary market closed on a bullish note as the average yield contracted by 85bps to 18.9%. Across the curve, the average yield declined at the short (-12bps), mid (-122bps) and long (-103bps) segments due to demand for the 91DTM (-184bps), 126DTM (-164bps) and 273DTM (-180bps) bills, respectively. Similarly, the average yield declined by 1bp to 22.4% in the OMO segment.
The Treasury bond secondary market traded with bearish sentiment, as the average yield expanded by 5bps to 18.2%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield expanded at the short (+13bps) and mid (+6bps) segments due to profit-taking activities on the MAR-2025 (+58bps) and FEB-2031 (+23bps) bond but closed flat at the long end.
