FIXED INCOME MARKETS
Money Market
System liquidity stayed in the negative at -₦618.07 billion slightly higher than -₦964.76 billion recorded last Friday. Consequently, the Open Repo Rate and Overnight Rate decreased by c.136 bps and c.150 bps to 23.55% and 24.25%, respectively.
Outlook: We expect rates to stay elevated in the interim.
Treasury Bills
Activity in the treasury bills market was minimal across the curve today, although, the long end of the curve witnessed some cherry-picking towards close of trading. Overall, market settled bullish, as the average mid-rate declined by c.28bps to settle at 14.81%.
Outlook: We expect activity to remain cautious, as market anticipate interest rate decision by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
FGN Bonds
In the FGN local bond market, players endured a quiet session with a bearish backdrop, particularly on 2038 and 2053 maturities. Before the closing bell, few bids resurfaced across select maturities. Consequently, the average mid-yield dipped by 13bps to settle at 17.21%.
Outlook: We expect activity to remain cautious, as market anticipate interest rate decision by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
Eurobonds
The Eurobonds market opened the week with a bullish momentum, as the SSA and MENA curves were awash with buyside interests. Particularly for Egypt, the buying interests was quite significant in today’s session, given market’s anticipation of the “mega-sized” $12 billion loan program from IMF. Consequently, Nigeria’s average mid-yield declined by 18bps to close at 9.63%.
Outlook: We expect a similar trend tomorrow.
Equities
The Nigerian equity market resumed its bearish course today. This time, selloffs were observed on NESTLE (-10.00%), DANGSUGAR (-7.69%), and ACCESSCORP (-4.30%). To give more perspective, the All-Share Index (ASI) lost 0.09% to settle at 101,995.53 points, with the year-to-date return settling at 36.41% and total market capitalization valued at ₦55.81 trillion.
Trading activity was positive compared to Friday’s session, with +1.14% and -11.69% in total volume and value traded, respectively. FBNH led both the volume and value charts, recording 73.84 million units at ₦2.42 billion. Across sectors the Banking sector gained 1.35%. In contrast, while the Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas Indices lost 1.46% and 0.37%, respectively. Thus, the Industrial Index closed flat.
Outlook: We expect a similar momentum tomorrow.
Foreign Exchange
FMDQ’s Nigeria’s Autonomous Foreign Exchange (NAFEM) appreciated by 4.96% (or ₦82.58) to $/₦1,582.92 from $/₦1,665.50 recorded last Friday.
Outlook: We expect the volatility to persist.
Commodities
Oil prices slipped today amid speculation that stronger than expected inflation could delay cuts to high interest rates that have been capping growth in global fuel demand. Brent crude reached $82.27 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) stood at $77.29 per barrel at the time of reporting. The price of gold increased to $2,036.30 per ounce at the same time.
Outlook: We expect the fluctuation to linger, as geopolitical conflicts remain in the picture.
