At the end of yesterday’s trading session, the Nigerian equities market closed negative as the benchmark index declined by 0.29% to close at 47,063.28 points.
Yesterday`s performance was due to selloffs in large caps such as NB (-0.31%) and BUAFOODS (-1.46%). Consequently, the YTD return decreased to 10.18% as market capitalisation declined by ₦74.91 billion to close at ₦25.36 trillion.
The sectoral performance weakened as three of the fives indices under coverage declined. The Oil & Gas index, the biggest loser declined by 0.24% on OANDO (-1.60%). The Insurance and Industrial indices followed suit, decreasing by 0.16% and 0.07% on CUSTODIAN (-5.70%) and WAPCO (-0.93%) respectively. Conversely, the Consumer goods and Banking indices, the gainers, improved by 1.14% and 0.04% on GUINNESS (+10.00%) and ZENITHBANK (+0.56%) respectively.
Investors sentiment weakened but positive as the market breadth declined to 1.00x from 1.19x. This was illustrated by the advance of 23 stocks, led by GUINNESS (+10.00%) and NCR (+10.00%) and the decline of 23 stocks, led by JAPAULGOLD (-7.69%) and COURTVILLE (-7.27%). Activity level strengthened as the total volume and value increased by 8.52% and 29.41% respectively as investors exchanged about 338.03 million units of shares worth over ₦5.68 billion.
We expect positive sentiment to return in the next trading session as the equities market still presents decent opportunities for investors chasing positive real returns on investments.
Fixed Income
There was mixed sentiment across the bond yield curve as two of the four bond yields under coverage closed lower while the yields on FGN-JAN-2026 and FGN-JUL 2030 closed higher by 30bps and 56bps respectively. The yields on the FGN-APR-2023 and FGN-MAR-2024 compressed by 4bps and 2bps respectively.
Treasury bill yield for the 91 and 364-day paper closed flat at 4.03% and 5.20% respectively. The 182-day paper decreased by 10bps to close at 4.64%.
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 Starts the Week in Red, NGX ASI Sheds 29bps
- Mixed Sentiment across the Bond Yield Curve
- Negative Performance in Global Stocks
- Commodities Market Closed in Green
- Negative Sentiment in African Stocks
