FIXED INCOME MARKET
Money Market
Interbank system liquidity opened with a balance of ca ₦470.14 billion, compared to yesterday’s balance of ca ₦509.01 billion. Nonetheless, the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) and Overnight (ON) rates held steady at 8.50% and 8.83% respectively, unchanged from rates recorded the previous day.
Treasury Bills
The NTB secondary market closed the week bullish amid prolonged ample system liquidity, with demand witnessed across CBN Special bills, OMOs and NTB papers. Most of the demand was skewed to mid and long dated papers, with average rate declining by c.20bps, day-on-day, to settle at 8.72%.
Bonds
The FGN bonds market was largely muted, albeit pockets of demand were observed on 2032s and 2037s at 14.95% and 15.90%, respectively. There were also few sellers of 2034s and 2035s, but bid/ask spreads were wide. Consequently, the average yield closed marginally lower, day-on-day, to settle at 14.69%.
Eurobonds
The Eurobond market shrugged off yesterday’s sell-off caused by Fed chair Powell’s speech, as the entire SSA curves and North African papers were better bid today, with sizeable demand observed from investors. Average prices appreciated by c.2.00pts across Nigeria, Ghana, and Angola, with support levels also provided by the latest US Non-farm payrolls report. Overall, the average yield across the Nigerian sovereign curve settled at 13.16%.
In other news, the US Nonfarm payrolls grew by 261,000 in October, better than the estimate for 205,000, with the unemployment rate moving higher to 3.7%, while a broader jobless measure also increased to 6.8%.
Equities
The domestic bourse closed the day on a positive note, as the Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index (NGX ASI) gained 0.07% day-on-day to settle at 44,269.18pts, while year-to-date return extended to +3.63%. Buy interest was seen in stocks such as Geregu Power Plc (+8.21%), Nigerian Exchange Group (+4.48%), and United Bank for Africa Plc (+2.94%), respectively.
The NGX Consumer Goods Index gained ca 0.01% while the NGX Banking and Industrial Indices lost ca 0.29% and 0.02%, day-on-day, respectively. The NGX Oil & Gas Index closed flat.
FTN Cocoa Processors Plc led the volume chart with ca 350.24 million units while Access Holdings Plc topped the value charts with ca ₦1.52 billion worth of trades.
Foreign Exchange
FMDQ’s Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Fixing (NAFEX) rate appreciated to settle at ₦445.50/US$1.00 from ₦445.75/US$1.00, recorded the previous day.
Commodities
Global crude oil prices rose today as the dollar fell, with a European ban on Russian oil looming and investors weighing the prospects for the easing of China’s Covid restrictions. Brent Crude Oil price gained ca 2.51% day-on-day to settle at US$97.05pb, while WTI rose ca 3.05% day-on-day to settle at US$90.86pb as at report time. Spot Gold gained ca 2.51% day-on-day to close at US$1,671.90 per ounce as of report time.
