February 21, 2023/Cordros Report
EQUITIES
The Nigerian equities market reversed yesterday’s gains as the profit-taking activities in INTBREW (-4.3%) and ACCESSCORP (-1.6%) caused a 0.1% decline in the benchmark index. Consequently, the NGX ASI settled at 54,189.31 points, with the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns moderating to +1.8% and +5.7%, respectively.
The total volume traded increased by 64.4% to 254.17 million units, valued at NGN15.58 billion, and exchanged in 2,950 deals. GEREGU was the most traded stock by volume and value at 125.01 million units and NGN12.50 billion, respectively.
Sectoral performance was mixed, as the Banking (-0.4%), Insurance (-0.2%), and Consumer Goods (-0.2%) indices closed in red, while the Industrial Goods index closed flat. The Oil & Gas (+0.3%) index was the sole gainer of the day.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative (0.7x), as 15 tickers lost relative to 10 gainers. VERITASKAP (-4.8%) and LINKASSURE (-4.4%) topped the losers’ list, while MRS (+10.0%) and TRIPPLEG (+9.6%) recorded the most significant gains of the day.
CURRENCY
The naira was flat at NGN461.33/USD at the I&E window.
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate contracted by 94bps to 16.9%, following the inflow from OMO maturities (NGN70.00 billion).
The NTB secondary market traded with bearish sentiments, as the average yield expanded by 4bps to 4.1%. Across the curve, the average yield increased at the short (+9bps) end due to the sell-off of the 16DTM (+62bps) bill but was flat at the mid and long segments. Elsewhere, the average yield was flat at 3.8% in the OMO segment.
Trading in the FGN bond secondary market was bullish, as the average yield contracted by 3bps to 13.0%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield declined at the short (-6bps) and long (-2bps) ends as investors demanded the APR-2023 (-17bps) and MAR-2050 (-6bps) bonds, respectively. Meanwhile, the average yield closed flat at the mid segment.
