FIXED INCOME MARKET
Money Markets
Interbank system liquidity declined today, opening with a credit balance of ca ₦333.56 billion compared to yesterday’s opening balance of ca ₦502.97 billion. Thus, the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) remained unchanged at 4.50%, while the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) rates trended lower to settle at 4.83% from 5.00%, the previous day.
Treasury Bills
Activity in the NTB market was mixed to bearish, ahead of tomorrow’s NTB auction (the last for Q1 2022). Sell side activity was predominantly seen across the mid to long tenors but buyers were scarce, thus, average rates inched up by 4bps day-on-day to 3.19%.
Bonds
Mixed sentiments dominated the FGN bonds space, with sell action mostly seen across the belly of the curve, 2042s and 2050s, while slight buy side activity was seen on 2026s and 2027s. Consequently, average yields expanded by 6bps to settle at 10.68%.
Eurobonds
The SSA Sovereign Eurobond curve traded bullish across all papers, as coupon reinvestment and global risk-on sentiment amid positive Russia-Ukraine talks dominated proceedings. Consequently, the average yield on Nigerian papers settled at 7.69%.
Equities
The Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index (NGX ASI) lost 0.11% on the day-on-day to settle at 46,843.09pts, extending losses from the previous day’s sell-off activity while year-to-date returns further reduced to ca +9.66%. This performance was due to sell-offs in bellwethers like Access Holdings Plc (-1.95%) and Zenith Bank Plc (-1.27%).
The NGX Banking, Oil & Gas, and Consumer Goods indices lost ca 0.99%, 0.50% and 0.30%, day-on-day, respectively. The NGX Industrial Index closed flat.
Chams Plc topped the volume chart with ca 30.40 million units, while Access Holdings Plc led the value chart with ca 305.51 million worth of trades.
Foreign Exchange
FMDQ’s Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Fixing (NAFEX) rate depreciated to ₦417.00/US$1.00 from ₦416.50/US$1.00, on the previous day.
Commodities
Global crude oil prices extended losses today, as Russia announced peace negotiations with Ukraine while China imposed new lockdown restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which has impacted fuel demand. Thus, Brent Crude Oil price lost ca 2.93% day-on-day to settle at US$109.16pb, while WTI also lost ca 2.77% day-on-day to US$103.00pb as at report time. Spot Gold lost ca 1.26% day-on-day to settle at US$1,920.20 per ounce as at report time.
