FIXED INCOME MARKETS
Money Markets
Opening System liquidity settled at ₦156.39 billion, from ₦168.47 billion recorded yesterday. Nonetheless, the Open Repo Rate (OPR) and the Overnight Rate (O/N) both declined by 10bps to 11.60% and 12.10% respectively.
Outlook: We expect the interbank rates to decline tomorrow, as fears for a CRR debit fizzles out.
Treasury Bills
The treasury bills market traded quiet today, albeit with a bearish undertone, as there were more sellers of long dated papers than buyers. Specifically, the newly issued 1-year paper (13-June-2024) saw offers climb as high as 8.10%, however bids were relatively absent. Overall, average yield settled at 7.12%.
Outlook: We expect a relatively quiet session tomorrow, barring any significant driver.
FGN Bonds
The local bonds market was mixed today, albeit, on a less aggressive note. Activity was mostly seen across the 2037, 2049 and 2050 papers. Overall, the average yield stayed relatively flat at 13.72%.
Outlook: We expect market players to trade cautiously tomorrow, as they keep a keen eye on Monday’s FGN bond auction.
Eurobonds
At the early hours of today’s trading session, the SSA Eurobonds’ market extended its bullish rally, especially the Nigerian curve due to the positive sentiment surrounding the unification of the exchange rates. However, the market turned slightly bearish amid reaction to ECB’s latest 25bps hike in benchmark rate to 4.00%, but settled mildly higher across Nigerian papers, as market players came off the lows to cherry-pick some attractive yields.
Consequently, the average yield settled at 10.38%, depicting a decline of 10bps.
Outlook: We expect the bullish bias to persist tomorrow, albeit, on a less aggressive note.
Equities
After a sustained bullish momentum that rattled across the market since the suspension of the CBN Governor, the Nigerian equity market closed on a bearish note today, as the Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index (NGX ASI) depreciated by c.1.32% to close at 59,195.20 points, while year-to-date return settled at c 15.50%. Selling interests in ACCESSCORP (-9.24%), UBA (-7.11%) and GTCO (-5.49%) pulled the Index to close bearish. All Indices closed in the red, safe for Oil & Gas Index. The NGX Banking, Industrial and Consumer Goods Indices depreciated in value by 4.16%, 0.21% and 0.44%, respectively. While the NGX Oil & Gas Index appreciated by 12.12%. UBA led the volume charts with c.192.83 million units while GTCO led the value with c. ₦ 3.34 billion.
Outlook: We expect a mixed session tomorrow.
Foreign Exchange
FMDQ’s Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Fixing (NAFEX) rate depreciated to ₦702.19 today, from ₦664.04/US$1.00 recorded yesterday, as the market continue to adjust towards equilibrium.
Outlook: We expect the NAFEX rate to be more volatile, although deprecate in the interim.
Commodities
Oil prices rose on today following a jump in refinery runs in China, being a top crude importer alongside weakness in the US dollar. As of report time, Brent oil prices appreciated by c. 1.48% to $74.28pb, day-on-day, while WTI appreciated by c 1.86% day-on-day to settle at US$69.54pb. Spot Gold depreciated by c. 0.10% day-on-day to close at US$1,967.00per ounce as of report time.
Outlook: We expect the bullish trend to persist tomorrow.
