FRI JULY 17 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria’s money market saw funding conditions tighten marginally on Thursday, while strong buying interest in Treasury bills drove yields sharply lower across the secondary market.
In contrast, the Federal Government bond market remained subdued, with mild profit-taking pushing benchmark yields slightly higher.
The overnight lending rate rose by 9 basis points to 22.2% in the absence of any significant liquidity inflows into the banking system.
However, the Nigerian Overnight Financing Rate (NOFR) and the Open Repo rate were unchanged at 22.00%, reflecting relatively stable short-term funding conditions despite tighter liquidity.
The Treasury bill secondary market extended its bullish momentum, with the average yield declining by 158 basis points to 16.8% as investors intensified demand for government securities.
Yield compression was recorded across the curve, with the short-end falling 36 basis points, the mid-tenor declining 113 basis points, and the long-end dropping 250 basis points.
The rally was underpinned by strong demand for the 84-day (-61bps), 175-day (-148bps), and 357-day (-347bps) Treasury bills.
In the Open Market Operations (OMO) segment, the average yield also eased by 3 basis points to 21.4%, indicating sustained investor appetite for short-dated fixed-income instruments.
Elsewhere, the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) bond secondary market traded on a largely quiet note but with a bearish bias, as the average yield edged up by 1 basis point to 17.4%.
Across the benchmark curve, yields increased by 2 basis points at the mid-segment and 1 basis point at the long end, reflecting profit-taking on the MAR-2036 (+8bps) and APR-2049 (+9bps) bonds.
Yields at the short end were unchanged, suggesting investors largely maintained positions in shorter-duration sovereign debt while selectively locking in gains on longer-dated securities.
Furthermore, the Nigeria Eurobond market maintained its bullish performance across the curve except the short-dated bonds. With that, average yield dropped marginally closing at 6.88% from 6.89%.
X-@theGBJournal|Facebook-the Government and Business Journal|email:gbj@govbusinessjournal.com|govandbusinessj@gmail.com
