April 18, 2023/Cordros Report
EQUITIES
The local bourse traded with mixed sentiments, as the gain in TRANSCORP (+9.7%) outweighed the loss in ZENITHBANK (-0.9%). As a result, the All-Share Index notched a 4bps gain to 51,138.92 points. Accordingly, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled at -5.7% and -0.2%, respectively.
The total volume traded advanced by 703.2% to 1.82 billion units, valued at NGN5.02 billion, and exchanged in 4,669 deals. TRANSCORP was the most traded stock by volume and value at 1.60 billion units and NGN3.09 billion, respectively.
Sectoral performance was mixed as the Insurance (-1.4%) and Banking (-0.5%) indices printed losses, while the Oil and Gas (+0.1%) index advanced. The Consumer Goods and Industrial Goods indices closed flat.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was mixed (1.0x), as an equal number of tickers (21) gained and lost. TRANSCORP (+9.7%) and RTBRISCOE (+9.1%) recorded the highest gains of the day, while VITAFOAM (-8.7%) and LINKASSURE (-8.3%) topped the losers’ list.
CURRENCY
The naira depreciated by 0.2% to close at NGN463.25/USD at the I&E window.
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate remained elevated at 19.0%, amid the settlement for FGN bond auction (NGN368.60 billion).
The Treasury Bills secondary market traded quietly, as the average yield was unchanged at 8.8%. Elsewhere, the average yield stayed flat at 4.0% in the OMO segment.
The FGN bond secondary market traded with bearish sentiments, as the average yield expanded by 14bps to close at 13.9%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield expanded at the short (+42bps) and long (+4bps) ends, as investors sold off the APR-2023 (+278bps) and JAN-2042 (+21bps) bonds, respectively. Meanwhile, the average yield pared at the mid (-1bp) segment, following demand for the NOV-2028 (-9bps) bond.
