THUR 18 FEB, 2021-theGBJournal- Bearish sentiments persisted in the local bourse, as investors sold off bellwethers – MTNN (-0.9%), GUARANTY (-1.9%) and ZENITHBANK (-3.6%). Consequently, the NSE ASI declined by 0.6% to 40,212.19 points. Accordingly, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date losses increased to -5.2% and -0.2%, respectively.
The total volume of trades increased by 74.6% to 426.27 million units, valued at NGN4.75 billion, and exchanged in 4,972 deals. FBNH was the most traded stock by volume at 129.80 million units, while GUARANTY was the most traded stock by value NGN1.08 billion.
Performance across sectors was negative as all sector indices recorded loses. The Banking (-2.6%) index recorded the largest decline, followed by the Insurance (-1.5%), Consumer Goods (-0.5%), Oil & Gas (-0.2%) and Industrial Goods (-0.1%) indices.
Market sentiment, as measured by market breadth, was negative (0.3x), as 29 tickers declined, relative to 10 gainers. UPL (-9.1%) and CHAMS (-8.3%) recorded the largest losses of the day, while RTBRISCOE (+10.0%) and CORNERST (+8.5%) topped the gainers’ list.
Currency
The naira appreciated by 0.5% and 0.2% to NGN407.80/USD and NGN477.00/USD at the I&E window and parallel market, respectively.
Money Market & Fixed Income
The overnight lending rate expanded by 158bps to 3.8%, following outflows for CBN’s weekly OMO auction.
The NTB secondary market was mixed, as average yield remained flat at 1.5%. In the same vein, average yield at the OMO segment was unchanged at 6.3%.
The Treasury bonds secondary market was bearish, as average yield expanded slightly by 1bp to 9.1%. Across the curve, average yield contracted at the short (-7bps) end, following buying interest in the MAR-2025 (-29bps) bond, but expanded at the mid (+13bps) and long (+1bp) segments, as investors sold off the MAR-2027 (+52bps) and JUL-2034 (+8bps) bonds, respectively.-With Cordros Research
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