March 17, 2022/Cordros Report
EQUITIES
Trading in the domestic equities market was positive for most of the day, however late profit-taking activities in SEPLAT (-3.3%) ensured the market closed lower. Precisely, the All-Share Index dipped by 2bps to 47,353.22 points, with the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns unchanged at -0.1%, and +10.9%, respectively.
The total volume traded increased by 64.4% to 239.73 million units, valued at NGN3.89 billion, and exchanged in 3,848 deals. VERITASKAP was the most traded stock by volume at 30.01 million units while MTNN was the most traded by value NGN961.43 million.
Performance across sectors was mixed as the Insurance (+0.1%) index gained, while the Oil & Gas (-1.8%) and Consumer Goods (-0.5%) indices declined. The Banking and Industrial Goods indices closed flat.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative (0.9x) as 17 tickers lost relative to 16 gainers. NIGERINS (-9.1%) and CORNERST (-6.5%) topped the losers’ list, while UACN (+10.0%) and ROYALEX (+9.8%) recorded the most significant gains of the day.
CURRENCY
The naira was flat at NGN416.67/USD at the I&E window.
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate expanded by 8bps to 5.3%, following debits for net NTB issuances (NGN114.57 billion).
Activities in the Treasury bills secondary market were quiet, as the average yield closed flat at 3.3%. At yesterday’s NTB auction, the CBN offered NGN58.04 billion for sale with a total subscription of NGN364.65 billion. Accordingly, the CBN allotted NGN5.91 billion of the 91-day, NGN6.85 billion of the 182-day, and NGN159.85 billion of the 364-day bills – at respective stop rates of 1.74% (previously 1.75%), 3.00% (previously 3.28%), and 4.00% (previously 4.10%). Elsewhere, the average yield expanded by 2bps to 3.8% at the OMO segment.
The Treasury bond secondary market closed on a bearish note, as the average yield expanded by 5bps to 10.5%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-9bps) end following buying interest in the APR-2023 (-34bps) bond; but expanded at the mid (+23bps) and long (+2bps) segments as market participants sold off the APR-2029 (+36bps) and MAR-2035 (+16bps) bonds, respectively.
