At the end of yesterday’s trading session, the Nigerian equities market closed negative as the benchmark index declined by 0.19% to close at 42,167.91 points. This was mainly due to selloffs in bellwether stocks such FBNH (-2.07%) and MTN (-1.30%). Consequently, the YTD return decreased to 4.71% as market capitalisation reduced by ₦41.78 billion to close at ₦22.00 trillion.
The sectoral performance was mixed as two of the five indices under coverage declined, two improved while the Oil & Gas index closed flat. The Consumer and Banking indices, the losers, declined by 0.09% and 0.06% on FLOURMILL (-0.17%) and GTCO (-1.63%) respectively. On the flip side, the Insurance and Industrial indices, the gainers, improved by 2.00% and 0.02% on NEM (+9.76%) and WAPCO (+0.41%) respectively.
Investor sentiment weakened but higher than the previous trading session, as market breadth increased to 0.72x from 0.50x. This was illustrated by the advance of 13 stocks, led by UPDC (+10.00%) and LINKASSURE (+9.80%) and the decline of 18 stocks, led by FTNCOCOA (-7.89%) and CHIPLC (-6.38%). Activity level weakened as the total volume and value reduced by 44.15% and 52.30% respectively as investors exchanged about 180.95 million units of shares worth over ₦2.43 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 relatively bearish sentiment across the bond yield curve as 2 of the 4 bond yields under coverage closed higher, the FGN-JUL-2030 bond paper compressed by 13bps while the FGN-JAN-2026 closed flat at 11.64%. The FGN-APR-2023 and FGN-APR-2024 bond papers increased by 5bps and 19bps respectively.
Treasury bill yields for the 91 and 184-day papers closed flat at 2.46% and 3.35% while the 364-day paper compressed by 29bps to close at 5.36%.
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 Red, NGX ASI Sheds 19bps
- Bearish Sentiment across the Bond Yield Curve
- Negative Sentiment in Global Stocks
- Brent Crude Reports at $72.12/barrel
- Negative Performance in African Stocks
