MON, FEBRUARY 25 2019-theG&BJournal-Following the conclusion of the presidential election, sentiments in the Nigerian equities market turned positive as the benchmark index notched higher by 0.57% to 32,568.65 points, driven by interest across major counters.
Accordingly, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date gains increased slightly to 7.01% and 4.04%, respectively.
On sectorial breakdown, all sector indices close positive, led by the Consumer Goods (+1.26%) index, and followed closely by the Insurance (+1.13%), Banking (+0.85%), Oil & Gas (+0.05%), and Industrial Goods (+0.02%) indices. Notable stocks include NB (+4.00%), AIICO (+4.23%), ZENITH (+0.97%), OANDO (+1.54%), and DANGCEM (+0.05%).
Elsewhere, market breadth was positive, with 25 gainers and 8 losers, led by DANGFLOUR (+9.95%) and UNIONDAC (-6.45%) shares, respectively. Total volume of trades declined by 0.7% to 219.81 million units, valued at NGN5.55 billion, and exchanged in 4,327 deals.
Cordros Capital research said: In the absence of a positive catalyst, as well as the still tense political milieu, we guide investors to trade cautiously in the short term. However, stable macroeconomic fundamentals and compelling valuations remain supportive of recovery in the mid-to-long term
The naira traded flat against the dollar at NGN360 in the parallel market, while it depreciated slightly by 0.01% to NGN361.54 in the I&E FX window. Total volume of trades in the IEW rose by 43.4% to USD165.32 million in Friday’s session, with trades consummated within the NGN359.00-NGN363.00/USD band.
The overnight lending rate moderated by 146 bps to 18.79%, following inflows worth NGN38.97 billion from the JAN-2028 bond coupon payments.
Activities in the Treasury bills market were bullish, as average yield contracted by 8 bps to close at 14.26%. Yields compressed at the short (-43 bps), mid (-63 bps). and long (-10 bps) ends of the curve, following demand for the 80DTM (-136 bps), 171DTM (-304 bps), and 206DTM (-105 bps) bills, respectively.
Proceedings in the bond market were similarly bullish, as average yield compressed by 16 bps to 14.50%. Buy sentiment was spread across the short (-29 bps) and mid (-19 bps) segments, driven by demand for the JUL-2021 (-58 bps) and JAN-2026 (-34 bps) bonds, respectively. Conversely, yield expanded at the long (+6 bps) end of curve, following a selloff of the JUL-2034 (+22 bps) bond.-
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