The Nigerian equities market closed positive at the end of today’s session as the benchmark index improved by 0.18% to close at 42,038.60 points.
This was mainly due to buy pressures in bellwether stocks such as TOTAL (+9.45%) and GUINNESS (+10.00%). Consequently, the YTD return improved to 4.39% as market capitalisation increased by ₦40.42 billion to close at ₦21.94 trillion.
The sectoral performance significantly strengthened as four of the five indices under coverage improved while the Consumer Goods index declined by 0.42% on DANGSUGAR (-5.56%). The Oil & Gas index, the biggest gainer, increased by 2.10% on TOTAL (+9.45%). The Insurance, Banking and Industrial indices followed suit, rising by 1.47%, 1.23% and 0.34% on CUSTODIAN (+10.00%), ZENITHBANK (+0.80%) and WAPCO (+5.47%) respectively.
Investor sentiment strengthened in today’s trading session, as market breadth increased to 1.74x from 1.62x. This was illustrated by the advance of 33 stocks, led by GUINNESS (+10.00%) and CUSTODIAN (+9.74%) and the decline of 19 stocks, led by REGALINS (-9.76%) and CWG (-9.60%). Activity level strengthened as total volume and value increased by 102.14% and 212.85% as investors exchanged about 1,129.72 million units of shares worth over N13.78 billion.
We expect bullish momentum to persist in the next trading session as the equities market still presents decent opportunities for investors chasing positive real return on investments.
Fixed Income
There was mixed sentiment across the bond yield curve as 2 of the 4 bond yields under coverage closed lower while the yields on the FGN-APR-2024 and FGN-JAN-2026 bond papers increased by 15bps and 46bps respectively. The yields on the FGN-APR-2023 and FGN-JUL-2030 bond papers compressed by 1bp and 17bps respectively.
Treasury bill yields for the 91, 182 and 364-day papers closed flat at 4.22%, 5.17% and 7.16% respectively.
We expect a further decline in yields in the next trading session on the back of huge demand from investors and the deliberate efforts of the DMO to reduce borrowing costs.
MARKET SNAPSHOT
- Local Bourse Closes the Week in Green, NGX ASI Gains 18bps
- Mixed Sentiment across the Bond Yield Curve
- Mixed Performance in Global Stocks
- Brent Crude Reports at $84.31/$
- Bullish Performance in African Stocks
