March 30, 2022/Cordros Report
EQUITIES
Unlike in the past two trading sessions, performance in the domestic equities market was positive following renewed interest in top telecommunication player – MTNN (+1.5%). Precisely, the All-Share Index inched higher by 0.1% to close at 46,904.48 points. Accordingly, the Month-to-Date loss moderated to -1.0%, while the Year-to-Date return increased to +9.8%.
The total volume traded declined by 6.1% to 201.28 million units, valued at NGN2.62 billion, and exchanged in 4,017 deals. ETI was the most traded stock by volume and value at 61.89 million units and NGN742.03 million.
Performance across sectors was mixed, as the Insurance (+0.6%) and Oil & Gas (+0.3%) indices advanced, while the Banking (-0.6%) and Consumer Goods (-0.2%) indices declined. The Industrial Goods index closed flat
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.1x) as 16 tickers gained relative to 15 losers. CORNERST (+10.0%) and IKEJAHOTEL (+10.0%) topped the gainers’ list, while CADBURY (-6.7%) and PZ (-5.4%) recorded the most significant losses of the day.
CURRENCY
The naira was flat at NGN417.00/USD at the I&E window.
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate expanded by 50bps to 5.3% in the absence of significant funding pressures on the system.
The Treasury bills secondary market was mixed, albeit with a bearish tilt, as participants anticipated the result of today’s PMA. Thus, the average yield inched higher by 1bp to 3.3%. Across the curve, the average yield was flat at the short and mid segments. Conversely, a sell-off of the 344DTM (+30bps) bill led to the yield expansion at the long (+4bps) end of the curve. Elsewhere, the average yield was unchanged at 3.6% in the OMO segment.
Proceedings in the Treasury bond secondary market were bearish, as the average yield expanded by 7bps to 10.6%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield expanded at the short (+16bps), mid (+5bps), and long (+2bps) segments as investors sold off the APR-2023 (+71bps), FEB-2028 (+6bps), and MAR-2050 (+21bps) bonds, respectively.
