THURS, JULY 27 2023-theGBJournal |Nigerian equities extended losses for the second consecutive session as the All-Share Index closed 0.31% weaker to close at 65,482.91 points.
On market movers, the weak performance was driven by selloffs in tier-1 banking names, ZENITHBANK (-0.85%), GTCO (-3.10%), and FBNH (-4.39%) contributed to keep the broader index in the red. Accordingly, the market remains on for a week of gain.
As a result, the year-to-date (YTD) return fell to 27.77%, with the market capitalization down by N111.15bn to close at N35.63trn.
Analysis of today’s market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 32.87%. A total of 509.25m shares valued at N4.80bn were exchanged in 8,070 deals.
JAPAULGOLD (-9.91%) led the volume chart with 115.70m units traded while UBA (0.00%) led the value chart in deals worth N595.92m.
Market breadth closed negative at a 2.83-to-1 ratio with declining issues outnumbering advancing ones.
JAPAULGOLD (-9.91%) topped thirty-three (33) others on the laggard’s log, while LASACO (+10.00%) led eleven (11) others on the leader’s table.
At the currency market, the naira depreciated by 3.7% to N768.60/USD at the I&E window.
The overnight lending rate contracted significantly by 10.20ppts to 1.3%, following inflows from FAAC disbursement (N561.49 billion).
Trading in the NTB secondary market was bearish, as the average yield expanded by 281bps to 7.1%. Across the curve, the average yield advanced at the short (+179bps), mid (+234bps), and long (+334bps) segments following profit-taking on the 91DTM (+204bps), 182DTM (+268bps) and 336DTM (+422bps) bills, respectively.
Similarly, proceedings in the Treasury bond secondary market were bearish as the average yield increased by 18bps to 13.1%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield expanded at the short (+59bps) and long (+4bps) ends, as market participants sold off the MAR-2024 (+294bps) and JUN-2053 (+44bps) bonds, respectively. Conversely, the average yield closed flat at the mid segment.
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