FIXED INCOME MARKETS
MONEY MARKETS
System liquidity remained in the negative territory, opening at -c.₦2,269.58 billion today compared with -c.₦2,292.06 billion recorded yesterday. Consequently, both the Open Repo Rate and Overnight Rate increased by c.69 bps and c.8 bps, to close at 31.38% and 31.86%, respectively.
Outlook: We expect the interbank rates to stay elevated.
Treasury Bills
The treasury bills market endured a mixed to bearish session, though executed volumes were thin due to the liquidity crunch. Most of the interests was skewed to 06 June 2024, 13 June 2024, 28 Jan 2025, 20 Feb 2025 and 06 Mar 2025. Overall, the average mid-rate stayed relatively flat at 16.11%.
Outlook: We expect market’s focus to tilt to the NTB auction, as the DMO would be offering ₦161.49 billion.
FGN Bonds
Activity in the FGN local bonds market was sluggish today, though some buyside interests were observed on 2027, Feb 2034 and 2038 papers. Overall, the average mid-yield closed c.29bps lower to settle at 17.70%.
Outlook: We expect the mixed performance to persist in the interim.
Eurobonds
The Eurobonds market started the session bullish. At mid-day through closing hour, market receded to a bearish bias, given the higher-than-expected US CPI print at 3.20% y/y (Est. 3.10%) from 3.10%. Overall, market settled bearish, as average mid-yield increased by 12bps to 9.85%.
Outlook: We expect the bearish theme to ease tomorrow.
Equities
The banking stocks stirred up the broad market to close bullish in today’s session. Thus, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1.45% to settle at 103,524.44 points, while the year-to-date return and market capitalization settled at 38.45% and ₦58.53 trillion, respectively.
Market activity concluded with a mixed performance, showing a 29.50% increase in trading volume and 16.76% decline in total value traded. TRANSCORP topped the volume chart with 170.71 million units while TRANSPOWER topped the value charts with ₦3.51 billion. The Banking and Oil & Gas grew by 5.56% and 0.12%, respectively. The Industrial Index closed flat.
Outlook: We expect the bullish sentiment to linger tomorrow, albeit less aggressively.
Foreign Exchange
FMDQ’s Nigeria’s Autonomous Foreign Exchange (NAFEM) appreciated by 0.90% (or ₦14.58) to $/₦1,603.38 from $/₦1,617.96 recorded yesterday.
Outlook: We expect the volatility to persist.
Commodities
Oil prices fell as traders assessed the U.S. inflation data. Brent crude dropped to $82.55 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell to $78.33 per barrel at the time of reporting. In contrast, the price of gold surged to $2,170.10 per ounce as of the time of writing.
Outlook: We expect oil prices to remain elevated.
