The Nigerian equities market closed in red at the end of Yesterday’s session as the benchmark index declined by 0.05% to close at 43,707.30 points.
This was mainly due to sell pressures in bellwether stocks such as ARDOVA (-4.12%) and WAPCO (-3.90%). Consequently, the YTD return declined to 8.53% as market capitalisation decreased by ₦12.14 billion to close at ₦22.81trillion.
The sectoral performance significantly weakened as four of the five indices under coverage declined while the Consumer Goods index, the only gainer, improved by 0.12% on NASCON (+1.07%). The Banking index, the biggest loser, weakened by 0.97% on ZENITHBANK (-1.23%). The Insurance, Industrial and Oil & Gas indices followed suit, falling by 0.34%, 0.25% and 0.24% on CHIPLC (-8.33%), WAPCO (-3.90%) and ARDOVA (-4.12%) respectively.
Investor sentiment weakened in today’s trading session, as market breadth decreased to 0.95x from 1.50x. This was illustrated by the advance of 18 stocks, led by NEIMETH (+10.00%) and CHAMS (+9.09%) and the decline of 19 stocks, led by REDSTAREX (-9.86%) and PHARMDEKO (-9.83%). Activity level was mixed as total volume declined by 3.57% while the total value increased by 61.89% as investors exchanged about 270.70 million units of shares worth over ₦5.63 billion.
We expect bullish momentum to return 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-JUL-2030 bond papers closed flat at 9.58% and 11.90% respectively. Both yields on the FGN-APR-2023 and FGN-JAN-2026 bond papers compressed by 1bp.
Treasury bill yields for the 91 and 364-day papers compressed by 19bps and 30bps to close at 3.87% and 6.84% respectively while the 182-day paper increased by 19bps to close at 5.00%.
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
- Negative Performance in the Local Bourse, NGX ASI Sheds 5bps
- Mixed Sentiment across the Bond Yield Curve
- Mixed Sentiment in Global Stocks
- Positive Performance in the Commodities Market
- Mixed Performance in African Stocks
