FIXED INCOME MARKETS
MONEY MARKETS
System liquidity remained in the negative territory, opening at -c.₦2,088.11 billion today compared with -c.₦2,269.58 billion recorded yesterday. Consequently, both the Open Repo Rate and Overnight Rate increased by c.105 bps and c.114 bps, to close at 32.43% and 33.00%, respectively.
Outlook: We expect the interbank rates to stay elevated.
Treasury Bills
The treasury bills market witnessed a quiet day, as participants tilted attention towards the primary market. Overall, the average mid-rate remained unchanged. at 16.11%.
Outlook: We expect market to extend its mixed posture in tomorrow’s trading session.
FGN Bonds
Activity in the FGN local bonds market was calm. Although, market digested the FGN bond auction circular released by the DMO today. In the circular, the DMO intends to raise ₦150.00 billion each from 2027 (new issue), 2031 and 2034 papers. Given the bearish undertone impacted by the tight system liquidity, market settled bearish, as the average mid-yield increased marginally by 1bp to 17.71%.
Outlook: We expect the mixed performance to persist in the interim.
Eurobonds
The Eurobonds market closed today’s session on a bullish note, as buyside interests scouted for several papers. In addition, the surge in oil prices partly drove the bullish posture. As a result, average mid-yield declined by 4bps to settle at 9.81%.
Outlook: We expect tomorrow’s session to be hinged on any change in US retail sales data. As of print time, market forecast the US retail sales to grow at 0.80% from -0.8% in January.
Equities
The Nigerian equity market extended its bullish momentum in today’s trading, with persistent buyside interests on the banking tickers. Thus, the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 0.47% to settle at 104,007.31 points, while the year-to-date return and market capitalization settled at 39.10% and ₦58.81 trillion, respectively.
Market activity dwindled in today’s session, with -42.21% and -35.93% in trading volume and value, respectively. TRANSCORP topped the volume chart with 38.95 million units while NESTLE topped the value charts with ₦1.50 billion. The Banking, Consumer and Industrial Indices appreciated by 1.95%, 0.22% and 0.03%, respectively, while the Oil & Gas Index flattened.
Outlook: We expect the bullish sentiment ease tomorrow.
Foreign Exchange
FMDQ’s Nigeria’s Autonomous Foreign Exchange (NAFEM) depreciated by 0.78% (or ₦12.56) to $/₦1,615.94 from $/₦1,603.38 recorded yesterday.
Outlook: We expect the volatility to persist.
Commodities
Oil prices increased amid Ukraine’s attack on Russian oil refineries. Brent crude increased to $84.13 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) printed at $79.82 per barrel at the time of reporting. Similarly, the price of gold surged to $2,181.50 per ounce as of the time of writing.
Outlook: We expect oil prices to remain elevated.
