FIXED INCOME MARKET
Money Markets
Interbank system liquidity opened significantly higher today at ca ₦74.93 billion long buoyed by late retail FX refunds on Thursday, compared with yesterday’s negative opening balance of ca ₦19.59 billion. However, the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) printed higher at 14.67% from 14.50% the previous day due to the retail FX auction that held today, while the Overnight Rate (ON) held steady at 15.00%.
Treasury Bills
The NTB secondary market ended the week on a muted note, despite modest interests observed on the CBN’s November 2022 special bills, February 2023 OMO papers, and December 2022 NTB papers. Nonetheless, the average rate was unchanged day-on-day, staying at 7.23% because of the few trades executed across the curve.
Bonds
The FGN bonds market witnessed improved offer yields across the curve from sellers, but only few takers were seen, especially on 2042s at 13.77% levels. Consequently, the average yield rose by c.8bps day-on-day, to settle at 12.53%.
Eurobonds
The Eurobond markets ended the week on a mixed note, with buying interest recorded across the SSA curve. However, U.S. Non-farm payrolls exceeding market expectation with c.528,000 jobs added, and the unemployment rate falling to 3.50%, caused a reversal in the bullish trend as it suggests the US economy will not enter a recession anytime soon, paving the way for the Fed to maintain its recent hawkish stance. Thus, the average yield across the Nigerian sovereign curve settled at 11.56%.
Equities
The domestic bourse closed the last trading day of the week in the green, as the Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index (NGX ASI) gained by c.0.28% from the previous session to close at 50,722.33pts, while year-to-date return extended to +18.74%. This was largely due to demand in stocks such as Flourmills Nigeria Plc (+3.23%) and Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (+0.49%).
The NGX Consumer Goods, Oil & Gas, Industrial, and Banking indices gained ca 1.52%, 0.37%, 0.35%, and 0.06% day-on-day, respectively.
Honeywell Flour Mill Plc led the volume chart with ca 22.02 million units while Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc topped the value charts with ca ₦445.68 million worth of trades
Foreign Exchange
FMDQ’s Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Fixing (NAFEX) rate stayed stable at ₦428.13/US$1.00.
Commodities
Global oil prices improved today as rising supply concerns were offset by the expected cutbacks in fuel demand. Brent Crude Oil price gained ca 1.57% day-on-day to settle at US$95.60pb, while WTI rose ca 1.43% day-on-day to settle at US$89.83pb as at report time. Spot Gold dipped ca 0.95% day-on-day to close at US$1,789.90 per ounce as of report time.
