MON, 05 OCT, 2020-theGBJournal- Trading in the domestic equities market carried on last week’s bullish performance, as interest in MTNN (+3.9%), AIRTELAFRI (+5.3%) and some other bellwethers inspired the ASI’s biggest gain since May 5. Thus, the benchmark index notched a 2.1% increase, to close at 27,554.49 points. Accordingly, Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date return both posted an increase of 2.7%.
The total volume of trades increased by 31.4% to 603.95 million units, valued at NGN7.42 billion and exchanged in 5,984 deals. ZENITHBANK was the most traded stock by volume and value at 204.69 million units and NGN3.83 billion, respectively.
Sectoral performance was positive, following gains in the Banking (+3.4%), Insurance (+2.0%), Oil & Gas (+0.8%), Industrial Goods (+0.4%) and Consumer Goods (+0.4%) indices.
Market sentiment, as measured by the market breadth, was positive (3.6x), as 36 tickers gained relative to 10 losers. GLAXOSMITH (+10.0%) and REDSTAREX (+10.0%) topped the gainers’ list, while TRIPPLEG (-10.0%) and OANDO (-8.7%) recorded the largest losses of the day.
Currency
The naira weakened by 0.1% to NGN386.00/USD at the I&E window, while it appreciated by 1.1% to NGN460.00/USD in the parallel market.
Money Market & Fixed Income
The overnight lending rate declined by 2bps to 1.6%, as system liquidity remains healthy.
Trading in the NTB secondary market was mixed, as average yield was flat at 1.9%. Elsewhere, average yield contracted by 23bps to 1.7% at the OMO secondary market.
At the Treasury bond secondary market, trading was mixed, with a bearish tilt, as average yield expanded slightly by 1bp to 6.7%. Across the curve, average yield expanded at the short (+16bps) end, following sell-off of the MAR-2025 (+78bps) bond. Conversely, average yield at the mid (-2bps) and long (-9bps) segments contracted, due to demand for the FEB-2028 (-6bps) and JUL-2034 (-24bps) bonds, respectively.
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