TUE SEPT 29 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria’s fixed-income markets moved in opposite directions on Monday, with demand for Treasury bills pushing short-term yields lower even as investors sold government bonds, driving benchmark bond yields higher.
The overnight lending rate rose 19 basis points to 20.8%, despite the absence of significant funding pressure in the banking system.
In the Treasury bill secondary market, sentiment was bullish, with the average yield falling 6 basis points to 17.8%.
Demand was spread across the curve, with average yields declining 3 basis points at the short end, 10 basis points in the middle and 4 basis points at the long end.
The strongest moves came in the 87-day-to-maturity (DTM) bill, whose yield fell 3 basis points, the 101-DTM bill, down 40 basis points, and the 346-DTM bill, down 20 basis points.
The rally was even more pronounced in the Open Market Operations (OMO) segment, where the average yield contracted 83 basis points to 18.9%.
The bond market, however, told a different story.
The Federal Government of Nigeria bond (FGN Bond) market traded on a bearish note, with the average yield rising 7 basis points to 15.7% as investors sold benchmark securities.
Across the benchmark curve, yields rose 10 basis points at the short end, 5 basis points in the middle and 6 basis points at the long end.
Selling pressure was particularly evident in the February 2031, June 2033 and April 2037 maturities, whose yields rose 24 basis points, 24 basis points and 20 basis points, respectively.
The contrasting moves point to selective demand across Nigeria’s fixed-income market, with investors favouring Treasury bills and OMO instruments while trimming exposure to longer-dated Federal Government bonds.
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