FRI MAY 15 2026-theGBJournal| The Nigerian equities market ended Thursday’s session lower as sell pressures in STANBIC (-4.5%), WEMABANK (-7.1%) and ZENITHBANK (-0.7%) offset demand for FIDSON (+10.0%), FIRSTHOLDCO (+0.8%), and TRANSCORP (+0.6%).
As a result, the All-Share Index declined by 0.1% to 252,248.37 points, causing the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns to moderate to 4.1% and +62.1%, respectively. Market capitalisation fell by N169.90 billion (0.10%) to settle at N161.67 trillion.
The total volume traded declined by 55.0% to 852.28 million units, valued at N29.78 billion, and exchanged in 66,016 deals.
CHAMS was the most traded stock by volume at 127.94 million units, while ARADEL was the most traded stock by value at N6.31 billion.
On Sectors, the Banking (-0.9%) and Consumer Goods (-0.1%) indices declined while the Industrial Goods and Oil and Gas indices closed flat. The Insurance (+0.5%) index was the sole gainer of the day.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.3x), as 36 tickers gained relative to 27 losers. LEARNAFRCA (+10.0%) and FIDSON (+10.0%) led the gainers, while ZICHIS (-10.0%) and FTNCOCOA (-9.9%) recorded the highest losses of the day.
At the currency market, the official FX rate appreciated by increased offshore portfolio to N1,373.00/USD. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s external reserves have continued to trend higher this week, edging up further to $48.51 billion, supported by increased offshore portfolio participation in the domestic market.
Meanwhile, the fixed income market traded mix. The Treasury bill secondary market traded on a quiet note, albeit with a bullish undertone, as the average yield contracted by 1bp to 17.5%.
Across the curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-1bp), mid (-1bp) and long (-1bp) segments due to demand for the 84DTM (-1bp), 175DTM (-1bp) and 343DTM (-4bps) bills, respectively.
Conversely, the average yield expanded by 8bps to 21.1% in the OMO segment.
Elsewhere, the FGN bond secondary market traded on a bullish note, as the average yield contracted by 1bp to 15.7%.
Across the benchmark curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-3bps) end due to demand for the AUG-2030 (-16bps) bond, but closed flat at the mid and long segments.
The overnight lending rate expanded by 4bps to 22.2% in the absence of any significant inflows into the system.
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