FIXED INCOME MARKETS
MONEY MARKETS
Opening system liquidity improved to ₦294.27 billion from -₦46.40 billion reported yesterday. Consequently, the Open Repo Rate (OPR) declined by 74bps to 28.22%, while the Overnight Rate (O/N) fell by 74 bps to 28.97%.
Outlook: We expect interbank rates to increase slightly higher tomorrow.
Treasury Bills
The treasury bills traded mixed today, but settled on a bullish note, given stronger cares for select maturities scattered across the curve. At the closing bell, average mid-rate fell by 18bps to settle at 19.44%.
Outlook: We expect players to continue to cherry-pick papers at profitable levels.
FGN Bonds
The FGN bonds market stay calm, despite the sustained interest on some papers throughout the session, including 2028, 2031, 2034, 2049 and 2053 maturities. Nevertheless, market closed flat as average mid-yield stayed at 18.43%.
Outlook: We expect a similar trend tomorrow.
Equities
The Nigerian Equity market traded sideways, with gains on GTCO (+5.26%), TRANSCORP (+2.78%) and ZENITHBANK (+0.59%) dwarfed by some selloffs on DANGSUGAR (-4.96%) and AIRTELAFRI (-0.35%). Hence, the All-Share Index gained 0.03% to settle at 98, 255.72 points. The year-to-date return and market capitalization settled at 31.40% and ₦55.57 trillion, respectively.
Trading activity improved today, with 111.99% and +81.56% in total volume and total value traded. The Banking and Industrial Goods Indices appreciated by 1.06% and 0.04%, respectively, while the Consumer Goods Index declined by 0.54%. NB led the total volume and value charts with 300.36 million units and N6.91 billion.
Outlook: We expect the mixed sentiment to resurface tomorrow.
Foreign Exchange
FMDQ’s Nigeria’s Autonomous Foreign Exchange (NAFEM) depreciated by ₦38.67 (or 2.72%) to $/₦1,459.73 compared to $/₦1,421.06 recorded yesterday.
Outlook: We expect volatility to persist in the interim.
Eurobonds
The African Eurobonds market swung across the regions today. While Nigeria and Angola’s curve started off mixed and ended the session bearish, Ghana maintained a bullish bias throughout the session. Meanwhile, the US initial jobless claims data increased from 209k to 231k, which also surpassed 214k consensus estimate. Overall, average mid-yield on Nigeria’s curve increased by 4bps to 9.60%.
Outlook: We expect the volatility to persist tomorrow.
Commodities
Oil prices rose today as falling U.S. crude inventories and higher Chinese imports supported expectations for demand growth in the world’s two largest crude-consuming nations. Brent crude increased by 0.02% to $83.60 per barrel, while WTI increased by 0.08% to $79.05 per barrel. Gold price gained 0.62% to $2,336.40 per ounce.
Outlook: We expect the volatility to persist.
