TUE 01 MARCH, 2022-theGBJournal- The Nigerian equities market closed higher for the second consecutive session, as investors’ interest in SEPLAT (+10.0%) and MTNN (+1.0%) drove a 0.2% increase in the benchmark index. Precisely, the NGX All-share Index closed at 47,482.73 points. Consequently, the Month-to-Date return printed +0.2%, while the Year-to-Date return increased to +11.2%.
The total volume traded increased by 23.2% to 370.54 million units, valued at NGN7.85 billion, and exchanged in 6,045 deals. FCMB was the most traded stock by volume at 57.58 million units, while MTNN was the most traded stock by value at NGN4.56 billion.
Sectoral performance was broadly negative as the Insurance (-1.3%), Banking (-0.8%), Industrial Goods (-0.3%) and Consumer Goods (-0.2%) indices declined, while the Oil & Gas (+5.4%) index was the sole gainer of the day.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (0.5x) as 15 tickers gained relative to 31 losers. SEPLAT (+10.0%) and ROYALEX (+9.5%) recorded the most significant gains of the day, while CUTIX (-10.0%) and LEARNAFRCA (-10.0%) topped the losers’ list.
Currency
The naira was flat at NGN416.67/USD at the I&E window.
Money & Fixed income market
The overnight lending rate contracted by 200bps to 10.3%, as the inflow from OMO maturities (NGN70.00 billion) boosted system liquidity.
Trading in the Treasury bills secondary market was bearish, as the average yield notched a 1bp increase to 3.6%. Across the curve, the average yield expanded at the long (+1bp) end as investors sold off the 331DTM (+8bps) bill. The average yield was unchanged at the mid and long segments. Elsewhere, the average yield contracted significantly by 161bps to 3.0% in the OMO segment.
The Treasury bond secondary market traded with bullish sentiments, as the average yield declined by 11bps to 10.8%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-16bps) and mid (-24bps) segments following buying interests in the MAR-2025 (-60bps) and APR-2029 (-95bps) bonds, respectively. Conversely, the average yield was flat at the long end.
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