WED APRIL 01 2026-theGBJournal| Listed shares in NGX Exchange kicked off April’s trading with strong bounce as the benchmark index closed 0.2% higher in today’s session driven by demand for Banking tickers, including GTCO (+7.3%), ZENITHBANK (+7.5%), STERLINGNG (+6.7%) and FIDELITYBK (+1.3%).
The bounce pushed the NGX ASI 201,703.55 points up. Consequently, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns advanced to +4.6% and +29.6%, respectively.
The total volume of trades declined by 8.1% to 815.48 million units, valued at N33.29billion, and exchanged in 52,641 deals.
WEMABANK was the most traded stock by volume at 77.75 million units, while GTCO was the most traded stock by value at N8.97 billion.
On Sectors, the Banking (+3.2%) and Insurance (+0.2%) indices closed positive while the Consumer Goods (-1.6%) and Oil & Gas (-0.1%) indices pared. The Industrial Goods index closed flat.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative (0.6x), as 22 tickers gained relative to 39 losers. UPDCREIT (+10.0%) and INTENEGINS (+9.9%) led the gainers, while OMATEK (-10.0%) and NESTLE (-10.0%) recorded the highest losses of the day.
On the currency side, the Naira weakened by 0.2% to close N1,385.72/USD at the official FX market, reflecting renewed demand pressures in the market.
The marginal depreciation underscores persistent liquidity tightness despite recent efforts to stabilize the currency.
The overnight lending rate expanded by 24bps to 22.3% following debits from the system.
Meanwhile, treasury yields remained unchanged, signaling a pause in fixed income repricing as investors adopt a wait-and see-approach.
The Treasury bills average yield was unchanged at 17.7%. Across the curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-1bp) and mid (-1bp) segments due to demand for the 85DTM (-1bp) and 176DTM (-1bp) bills, respectively, while it closed flat at the long end.
Elsewhere, the average yield contracted by 1bp to 20.4% in the OMO segment.
Similarly, The FGN bond secondary market traded on a quiet note as the average yield remained unchanged at 15.5%.
Across the benchmark curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-1bp) end, following demand for the AUG-2030 (-4bps) bond, while it expanded at the mid (+1bp) segment, due to the sell pressures on the JUN-2033 (+9bps) bond. Meanwhile, it closed flat at the long end.
The overnight lending rate expanded by 24bps to 22.3% following debits from the system.
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