FIXED INCOME MARKET
Money Market
Interbank system liquidity opened with a balance of ca -₦146.42 billion, slightly higher than yesterday’s negative opening balance of ca -₦213.21 billion. Thus, the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) and Overnight (ON) rates remained unchanged at 16.34% and 16.51% respectively.
Treasury Bills
The NTB secondary market traded on a lull, as the NTB auction took center stage. Nonetheless, few bids were recorded on 23 February 2023 and 27 April 2023 papers at 13.20% and 9.25% respectively but offers were scarce. Overall, the average rate closed ca 8bps lower, day-on-day, to settle at 9.38%.
Bonds
The FGN bonds market endured a muted theme despite coupon inflows of c.N122bn that hit the system. However, mild interest was observed on 2029s and 2037s. Overall, the average yield closed relatively flat, day-on-day, to settle at 14.44%.
Eurobonds
The US treasury yields trending lower in reaction to the rally seen in the equities market over the last couple of days, spurred further demand in the Eurobond space as prices appreciated by c.1.5pts and c.3.85pts across the Nigeria and Angola curves respectively. Overall, the average yield across the Nigerian sovereign curve settled at 14.24%.
Equities
The positive trend in the domestic bourse was sustained today, as the Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index (NGX ASI) gained 0.16% day-on-day to settle at 44,859.78pts, while year-to-date return extended to +5.02%.
Buy interest was seen on stocks like Geregu Power Plc (+5.45%), BUA Cement Plc (+2.64%), and United Bank for Africa Plc (0.71%), respectively.
The NGX Industrial and Oil & Gas Indices gained ca 1.14% and 0.32% while the NGX Banking and Consumer Goods Indices lost ca 0.93% and 0.39%, day-on-day, respectively. Geregu Power Plc led both the volume and value charts with ca 12.79 million units, traded at ca ₦1.29 billion worth of trades.
Foreign Exchange
FMDQ’s Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Fixing (NAFEX) rate held steady at ₦441.67/US$1.00.
Commodities
Global oil prices steadied after a report from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed that the U.S. crude stockpiles rose more than expected last week, easing concerns on crude supply. Brent Crude Oil price gained ca 2.46% day-on-day to settle at US$95.82pb, while WTI rose ca 3.14% day-on-day to settle at US$88.00pb as at report time. Spot Gold gained ca 1.02% day-on-day to close at US$1,674.90 per ounce as of report time.
