FIXED INCOME MARKETS
Money Markets
System liquidity remained elevated today at c.₦399.80 billion vs c.₦384.54 billion recorded the previous day. Thus, the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) and Overnight Rate (O/N) remained unchanged at 9.50% and 9.83% respectively from the previous day.
Treasury Bills
Activity in the treasury bills space was muted, as most participants were standoffish ahead of next week’s NTB auction and MPC meeting. Thus, the average mid-rate was relatively unchanged, closing at 3.84%.
Bonds
The FGN bonds space traded mixed sentiments, with buyside interest recorded on 2027s, 2049s and 2050s, while sellers showed better offers across 2029s, 2032s and 2035s. Thus, the average mid-yield closed c.2bps higher at 13.93%.
Eurobonds
The Eurobond space witnessed sideways trading across most African papers, as U.S. data highlighted valid concerns on economic outlook. Most of the buying interest were skewed to corporate papers (ETINL 31s and FBN 25s), while the sovereigns traded lower prices. Overall, the average yield across the Nigerian sovereign curve closed at 10.05%.
Equities
The Nigerian equities market traded on a positive note, as the Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index (NGX ASI) gained c.0.02% day-on-day to close at 52,626.42 points while market year-to-date return was recorded at c.2.68%. Buying interests on stocks like DANGSUGAR (+1.75%) and WAPCO (+1.00%) drove the index upwards.
The NGX Banking & Industrial Indices both gained c. 0.20% and 0.05% respectively, the NGX Consumer goods Index lost c. 0.03% while the Oil & Gas Index remained unchanged from the previous day. ZENITHBANK led both the volume and value charts with c.18.55 million units and c.₦ 455.74 million worth of trades respectively.
Foreign Exchange
FMDQ’s Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Fixing (NAFEX) rate depreciated to ₦ 461.50/US$1.00 from ₦ 461.25/US$1.00 recorded at the previous day.
Commodities
Oil futures rose slightly today, as an expected rise in Chinese demand and further restrictions on Russian exports suggested market supply will remain tight. Brent Crude Oil price gained c.1.01% day-on-day to settle at US$85.93pb, while WTI gained c.0.83% day-on-day to settle at US$80.13b as at the time of this report. Spot Gold gained c.0.89% day-on-day to close at US$1,923.90 per ounce as of report time.
