…Naira gains at the I&E window by 0.3%
MON 01 MARCH, 2021-theGBJournal- Nigerian stocks started the new month higher, as bargain buying on BUACEMENT (+3.8%), ZENITHBANK (+1.4%), and UBA (+2.5%) stocks triggered a 0.3% gain in the All-Share Index to 39,931.63 points. Consequently, the Month-to-Date return settled at +0.3%, while the Year-to-Date loss moderated to -0.8%.
The total volume of trades increased by 7.3% to 543.99 million units, valued at NGN1.89 billion, and exchanged in 4,673 deals. WEMABANK was the most traded stock by volume at 369.68 million units, while ZENITHBANK was the most traded stock by value at NGN529.07 million.
Analysing by sectors, the Industrial Goods (+1.5%) and Banking (+0.3%) indices recorded gains, while the Insurance (-1.1%), Consumer Goods (-0.5%), and Oil & Gas (-0.1%) indices closed in the red.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative (0.4x), as 28 tickers declined, relative to 12 gainers. NASCON (-10.0%) and CHAMPION (-9.9%) recorded the largest losses of the day, while UACN (+6.7%) and AIICO (+5.2%) topped the gainers’ list.
CURRENCY
The naira appreciated at the I&E window by 0.3% to NGN409.20/USD but was flat at NGN482.00/USD in the parallel market.
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate increased by 42bps to 6.8%, in the absence of any significant inflows to the system.
Trading in the NTB secondary market was mixed, as the average yield in the space was flat at 1.5%. Elsewhere, average yield expanded by 5bps to 6.1% at the OMO secondary market.
The Treasury bonds secondary market traded on a bearish note, as the average yield expanded by 9bps to 9.1%. Across the curve, the average yield was higher at the short (+29bps) and long (+1bp) ends due to profit-taking on the JAN-2026 (+175bps) and APR-2049 (+22bps) bonds, respectively. Conversely, average yield contracted at the mid (-9bps) segment as investors bought up the APR-2029 (-15bps) bond. With Cordros Research
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