FIXED INCOME MARKETS
Money Markets
System liquidity closed the week with an opening balance at c.₦ 492.50 billion, compared to c.₦ 399.80 billion recorded the previous day. Nevertheless, the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) and Overnight Rate (O/N) rose to 11.00% and 11.50% respectively, vs 9.50% and 9.83% recorded the previous day.
Treasury Bills
The treasury bills market closed the week on a muted note with mild activity recorded across the long end of the curve. Thus, the average mid-rate closed relatively flat at 3.84%.
Bonds
The FGN bonds market endured a mixed theme, with sideways interest recorded across 2029s, 2032s, 2035s, 2037s, 2042s, 2049s and 2050s. Overall, the average mid-yield closed c.7bps higher at 14.00%.
Eurobonds
In the Eurobond space, activity was mixed, as Nigeria and Angola securities traded with positive sentiments while Ghana and Egypt papers witnessed sell-off amid the rebound noticed in Asia stocks and the hawkish tone set by Fed chair Bullard. Overall, the average yield across the Nigerian sovereign curve closed at 10.05%.
Equities
The Nigerian equities market reversed its bullish theme, as the Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index (NGX ASI) shed c.0.06% day-on-day to close at 52,594.68 points while market year-to-date return dipped to c.2.62%. Selling activities on bellwethers like GTCO (-1.03%) and NESTLE (-1.81%) drove the index south.
The NGX Industrial and Consumer Goods Indices both lost c.0.03% and 0.62% respectively, the Banking Index gained c. 0.37%, while the Oil & Gas Index remained unchanged from the previous day. VERITASKAP led the volume charts with c.347.05 million units while NESTLE led the value charts c.₦ 487.65 million worth of trades.
Foreign Exchange
FMDQ’s Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Fixing (NAFEX) rate remained unchanged at ₦ 461.50/US$1.00 from the previous day.
Commodities
Oil rose today and was heading for a second straight weekly gain, spurred largely by brightening economic prospects for China and resulting expectations of a boost to fuel demand in the world’s second-biggest economy. Brent Crude Oil price lost c.0.21% day-on-day to settle at US$86.03pb, while WTI gained c.0.17% day-on-day to settle at US$80.47b as at the time of this report. Spot Gold gained c.0.31% day-on-day to close at US$1,929.90 per ounce as of report time.
