EQUITIES
The local bourse closed today’s session on a positive note, as gains in MTNN (+2.3%), DANGCEM (+0.9%) and WAPCO (+2.0%) drove the All-Share Index higher by 0.1% to 144,995.26 points. Consequently, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled higher at +1.6% and +40.9%, respectively.
The total volume traded declined by 2.4% to 507.41 million units, valued at NGN25.73 billion and exchanged in 24,287 deals. ACCESSCORP was the most traded stock by volume at 45.86 million units, while ARADEL was the most traded stock by value at NGN13.16 billion.
Sectoral performance was mixed, as the Insurance (+2.0%), Industrial Goods (+0.7%) and Consumer Goods (+0.3%) indices advanced, while the Banking (-1.1%) and Oil & Gas (-0.9%) indices closed lower.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.1x), as 37 tickers gained relative to 33 losers. CORNERST (+9.9%) and CHAMS (+9.2%) led the gainers, while LIVINGTRUST (-10.0%) and AUSTINLAZ (-9.7%) posted the most significant losses of the day.
CURRENCY
The official FX rate depreciated by 0.7% to NGN1,475.00/USD.
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate remained unchanged at 24.9%.
The NTB secondary market was quiet albeit with a bullish tilt, as the average yield contracted by 2bps to 17.8%. Across the curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-1bp), mid (-1bp) and long (-3bps) segments, driven by the demand for the 79DTM (-1bp),170DTM (-1bp), and 331DTM (-37bps) bills, respectively. Similarly, the average yield contracted by 3bps to 20.5% in the OMO segment.
Elsewhere, proceedings in the FGN bond secondary market were bullish, as the average yield declined by 23bps 16.0%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-21bps), mid (-24bps) and long (-24bps) segments, driven by the buying interests on the MAR-2027 (-69bps), JUL-2034 (-49bps), and MAR-2036 (-34bps) bonds, respectively.
