SAT, MAR 16 2024-theGBJournal| The Treasury Bills market started the week cautiously, with limited interest observed on the longer end of the curve due to constrained liquidity in the interbank market. This cautious sentiment persisted, compounded by the anticipation of a NTB auction mid-week.
During the auction, the Debt Management Office (DMO) offered and allotted a total of N161.49 billion against a total subscription of N1.49 trillion.
Compared to the previous auction, stop rates decreased across the offered papers, closing at 16.24%, 17.00%, and 21.123%, representing declines of 100 bps, 100 bps, and 7 bps, respectively.
Following the auction results, the Treasury bills market traded with a mild bullish bias, with interest particularly focused on the Feb-2025 and Mar-2025 papers as the secondary market absorbed the unmet demand from the primary market auction.
Consequently, the newly issued one-year paper (13-Mar-25) traded around the 19% mark against its stop rate. However, the average benchmark yield saw a marginal decrease of 1 bp, ending the week at 18.97%.
The FGN Bonds market displayed a bearish stance for most of the week because of the depressed interbank market liquidity.
Consequently, the average benchmark yield concluded the week at 18.48%, marking an 8-bps increase on a week-over-week (WoW) basis.
The FGN Eurobonds market experienced mixed sentiment throughout most of the week. However, prices declined on a week-on-week basis due to two main factors: the announcement of a forthcoming Eurobond issuance by the Nigerian government before June and the rise in Nigeria’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) to 37.10% for February, up from 29.90% in January.
As a result, the average benchmark yield increased by 34 bps compared to the previous week, ending the week at 9.96%.
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