EQUITIES
The Nigerian equities market commenced the first trading session of the year on a positive note, buoyed by gains in UNILEVER (+9.3%), UCAP (+9.8%) and ZENITHBANK (+0.8%). Consequently, the All-Share Index advanced by 0.3% to 103,180.14 points, with the Year-to-Date return settling at +0.3%.
The total volume traded increased by 89.6% to 829.75 million units, valued at NGN5.67 billion, and exchanged in 11,752 deals. ROYALEX was the most traded stock by volume at 290.99 million units, while ZENITHBANK was the most traded stock by value at NGN680.67 million.
Across sectors, the Insurance (+9.5%), Banking (+0.3%), and Consumer Goods (+0.2%) indices posted gains, while the Industrial Goods and Oil and Gas indices closed flat.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (7.1x), as 57 tickers gained relative to 8 losers. INTENEGINS (+10.0%) and ROYALEX (+10.0%) led the gainers, while ELLAHLAKES (-4.8%) and NASCON (-4.3%) posted the most significant losses of the day.
CURRENCY
The naira closed flat at NGN1,538.23/USD at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate contracted by 55bps to 27.3% in the absence of any significant inflows into the system.
Activities in the T-bills secondary market was bullish, as the average yield contracted by 4bps to 25.5%. Across the curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-3bps), mid (-3bps), and long (-4bps) segments following buying interests in the 63DTM (-4bps), 112DTM (-4bps), and 322DTM (-4bps) bills, respectively. Conversely, the average yield expanded by 7bps to 27.2% in the OMO segment.
Meanwhile, the FGN bond secondary market traded on a quiet note, as the average yield remained at 19.4%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield expanded at the short (+1bp) end, driven by profit-taking activities on the JAN-2026 (+4bps) bond, but closed flat at the mid and long segments.
