WED 23 FEB, 2022-theGBJournal- Sentiments in the domestic bourse turned negative, as late profit-taking activities witnessed in DANGSUGAR (-5.3%) and GTCO (-1.1%) caused a 0.1% decrease in the benchmark index.
Thus, the NGX All-Share Index closed at 42,270.27 points. Consequently, the Month-to-Date return remained at +1.3% while the Year-to-Date gain moderated to +10.5%.
The total volume traded declined by 45.3% to 230.65 million units, valued at NGN3.49 billion, and exchanged in 4,377 deals. TRANSCORP was the most traded stock by volume at 23.19 million units while SEPLAT was the most traded stock by value at NGN645.12 million.
Sectoral performance was mixed as the Consumer Goods (-0.6%) and Banking (-0.4%) indices declined, while the Insurance (+0.9%) index was the sole gainer of the day. However, the Industrial Goods and Oil & Gas indices closed flat.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.5x) as 24 tickers gained relative to 16 losers. ETRANZACT (+10.0%) and RTBRISCOE (+9.7%) topped the gainers’ list, while AFRIPRUD (-5.8%) and DANGSUGAR (-5.3%) recorded the most significant losses of the day.
Currency
The naira was flat at NGN416.00/USD at the I&E window.
Money & Fixed Income Market
The overnight lending rate expanded by 317bps to 9.5% in the absence of any significant inflows in the system.
Activities in the Nigerian Treasury bill secondary market were largely bullish, as the average yield contracted by 58bps to 3.6%. The average yield declined at the short (-19bps), mid (-88bps) and long (-67bps) segments of the curve following buying interest in the 64DTM (-94bps), 169DTM (-108bps), and 218DTM (-109bps) bills, respectively. Similarly, the average yield contracted by 41bps to 4.9% in the OMO segment.
Trading in the Treasury bond secondary market was bearish, as the average yield expanded by 2bps to 11.0%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-2bps) and long (-11bps) ends as market participants demanded the JAN-2026 (-4bps) and MAR-2036 (-43bps) bonds, respectively. Conversely, the average yield expanded at the mid (+27bps) segment due to profit-taking on the JUL-2030 (+109bps) bond.
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