EQUITIES
Trading activities in the local bourse was negative for most of the day. However, late interest in AIRTELAFRI (+9.0%) ensured the market closed higher. Precisely, the All-Share Index advanced by 0.8% to close at 98,156.71 points. Consequently, the MTD and YTD returns settled at -0.1% and +31.3%, respectively.
The total trading volume increased by 15.3% to 409.77 million units, valued at NGN8.93 billion, and exchanged in 7,296 deals. CUSTODIAN was the most traded stock by volume at 115.58 million units, while AIRTELAFRI was the most traded stock by value at NGN2.17 billion.
On sectors, the Banking (-3.0%), Oil & Gas (-0.4%) and Consumer Goods (-0.1%) indices recorded losses, while the Industrial Goods index was unchanged. The Insurance (+0.5%) index was the sole gainer of the day.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative (0.6x), as 24 tickers lost relative to 15 gainers. ETERNA (-9.9%) and FCMB (-8.3%) recorded the most significant losses of the day, while GUINEAINS (+10.0%) and ROYALEX (+10.0%) topped the gainers’ list.
CURRENCY
The naira depreciated by 4.9% to NGN1,533.99/USD at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate contracted by 119bps to 30.7%, in the absence of any significant inflows into the system.
Proceedings in the NTB secondary market were bullish, as the average yield pared by 1bp to 22.4%. Across the curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-1bp), mid (-1bp) and long (-1bp) segments, following demand for the 21DTM (-2bps), 175DTM (-1bp) and 343DTM (-2bps) bills, respectively. Similarly, the average yield declined by 5bps to 20.0% in the OMO segment.
Activities in the Treasury bond secondary market was muted, as the average yield stayed flat at 18.5%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield increased slightly at the short (+1bp) end as players sold off the MAR-2025 (+2bps) bond but closed flat at the mid and long segments.
