System Liquidity
The money market saw mild volatility, with early funding rate increases despite strong liquidity, before a sharp mid-week swing to a ₦1.61 trillion deficit after the ₦2.13 trillion OMO settlement. Liquidity rebounded to a ₦750.3 billion surplus by week’s end, leaving the OPR flat at 26.50% and the O/N rate up 10bps to 26.70%.
Treasury Bills
The NTB market closed bearish as mid-to-long tenor sell-offs outweighed gains in shorter bills, despite ample liquidity and a larger-than-expected OMO sale. Overall, the average benchmark yield rose 12bps w/w to 16.45%.
FGN Bonds
The FGN bond market closed slightly bearish, as early short- to mid-tenor sell-offs and late mild short-end weakness outweighed midweek selective buying. Consequently, the average benchmark yield rose 12bps w/w to 16.51%.
Eurobonds
The African Eurobond market closed the week bullish, supported by early strong buying momentum, geopolitical tensions over U.S. tariff threats on Russian oil imports, and the Bank of England’s rate cut to 4.0%. The Nigerian segment gained additional lift from the CBN’s settlement of outstanding FX forwards, driving a 21bps w/w drop in the average benchmark yield to 8.04%.
Nigerian Equities
After a 26-session winning streak, the Nigerian stock market ended the week down 52bps but still posted a solid 315bps w/w gain, with the NGX-ASI closing at 145,751.91 points after touching a record 146,570.71 points. The rally was fuelled by sharp gains in BUACEMENT, DANGCEM, BUAFOODS, GUINNESS, and insurance counters following the approval of the Nigeria Insurance Industry Bill, while sector performance was broadly positive except for banking, which slipped 0.75% w/w.
Foreign Exchange
This week, the naira appreciated by ₦0.60/USD (0.04% w/w) to ₦1,534.90/USD, supported by the CBN’s end-week announcement of clearing all outstanding FX forwards. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s gross external reserves increased by $800.51 million w/w to $40.16 billion as of August 7th.
Commodities
Global oil prices posted their sharpest weekly drop since late June, with Brent down 4.42% to $66.59/bbl and WTI off 5.12% to $63.88/bbl, as markets awaited the upcoming Trump–Putin meeting, where a deal to end the Ukraine war and cement Russia’s territorial gains is anticipated. Meanwhile, gold gained 2.69% w/w to $3,491.30/oz, supported by safe-haven demand from renewed U.S. tariff threats and firm expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut.
