March 8, 2023/Cordros Report
EQUITIES
Bullish sentiments resurfaced in the domestic equities market as bargain hunting in DANGCEM (+1.8%) triggered a 0.4% increase in the benchmark index. As a result, the All-Share Index closed at 55,801.14 points, with the Year-to-Date gain increasing to +8.9%.
The total volume traded declined by 4.2% to 152.74 million units, valued at NGN3.57 billion, and exchanged in 3,293 deals. COURTVILLE was the most traded stock by volume at 34.60 million units, while DANGCEM was the most traded stock by value at NGN2.09 billion.
Performance across sectors was broadly positive, as the Industrial Goods (+0.8%), Insurance (+0.2%), and Banking (+0.1%) indices closed higher, while the Oil & Gas (-0.9%) and Consumer Goods (-0.1%) indices declined.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was mixed (1.0x), as an equal number of tickers (18) gained and lost. TRANSEXPR (+9.9%) and CUTIX (+8.5%) topped the gainers’ list, while MRS (-10.0%) and ABCTRANS (-7.9%) recorded the highest losses of the day.
CURRENCY
The naira appreciated by 0.1% to NGN461.25/USD at the I&E window.
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate expanded by 19bps to 11.0%, in the absence of any significant funding pressure on the system.
Activities in the Nigerian Treasury bills secondary market were muted, as participants anticipated the result of today’s primary auction. Thus, the average yield was unchanged at 3.7%. Similarly, the average yield closed flat at 3.0% in the OMO segment.
The Treasury bond secondary market traded with bullish sentiments, as the average yield contracted by 2bps to 12.9%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-10bps) end as investors demanded the MAR-2024 (-65bps) bond, but expanded at the long (+4bps) end due to the sell-off of the APR-2037 (+14bps) bond. Conversely, the average yield was flat at the mid segment.
