At the end of yesterday ‘s trading session, the Nigerian equities market closed positive as the benchmark index increased by 0.08% to close at 47,140.48 points. Yesterday`s performance was due to buy pressures in large-cap stocks such as NB (+1.05%) and GUINNESS (+7.69%).
Consequently, the YTD return improved to 10.36% as market capitalisation increased by N20.39 billion to close at ₦25.41 trillion.
The sectoral performance was mixed as two of the five indices under coverage improved, two declined while the Industrial index closed flat. The Consumer goods and Banking indices, the biggest gainers, improved by 1.05% and 0.08% on GUINNESS (+7.69%) and UBN (+1.61%) respectively. Conversely, the Insurance and Oil & Gas indices, the laggers, declined by 0.79% and 0.36% on CORNERST (-4.76%) and OANDO (-2.00%) respectively.
Investors sentiment strengthened as the market breadth increased to 1.93x from 1.88x. This was illustrated by the advance of 29 stocks, led by LEARNAFRCA (+10.00%) and NCR (+9.92%) and the decline of 15 stocks, led by PHARMDEKO (-8.67%) and FTNCOCOA (-5.41%). Activity level strengthened as the total volume and value improved by 18.71% and 0.64% as investors exchanged about 424.70 million units of shares worth over ₦6.52 billion.
We expect positive sentiment to persist 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 relatively bullish sentiment across the bond yield curve as three of the four bond yields under coverage closed lower while the yield on the FGN-MAR-2024 closed flat. The yields on the FGN-APR-2023, FGN-JAN-2026 and FGN-JUL-2030 declined by 2bps, 2bps and 38bps respectively.
Treasury bill yields for the 91, 182 and 364-day paper closed flat at 3.15%, 4.64% and 5.20% 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 8bps
- Bullish Sentiment across the Bond Yield Curve
- Negative Performance in Global Stocks
- Brent Crude Reports at $92.81/barrel
- Positive Sentiment in African Stocks
