August 31, 2023/Cordros Report
EQUITIES
Trading activities in the local bourse was negative for most of the day. However, late interest in SEPLAT (+10.0%) ensured the market closed higher. Precisely, the All-Share Index inched higher by 0.2% to 66,548.99 points. Accordingly, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns advanced to +3.4% and +29.9%, respectively.
The total volume traded decreased by 2.5% to 620.98 million units, valued at NGN7.18 billion, and exchanged in 7,972 deals. STERLINGNG was the most traded stock by volume at 170.00 million units, while DANGSUGAR was the most traded stock by value at NGN1.60 billion.
Sectoral performance was mixed, as the Oil & Gas (+5.4%) and Banking (+0.3%) indices gained, while the Consumer Goods (-1.1%) and Insurance (-0.4%) indices declined. Elsewhere, the Industrial Goods index closed flat.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.6x), as 31 tickers gained relative to 19 losers. NGXGROUP (+10.0%) and SEPLAT (+10.0%) topped the gainers’ list, while MULTIVERSE (-10.0%) and NASCON (-9.8%) recorded the highest losses of the day.
CURRENCY
The naira depreciated by 3.2% to NGN762.71/USD at the I&E window.
MONEY MARKET & FIXED INCOME
The overnight lending rate contracted by 40bps to 2.6%, in the absence of any significant inflows into the system.
The Treasury bills secondary market traded on a quiet note, as the average yield was unchanged at 7.3%. In the same vein, the average yield remained at 11.0% in the OMO segment.
Sentiments in the FGN bond secondary market were mixed but with a bullish undertone, as the average yield pared by 1bp to 14.1%. Across the benchmark curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-8bps) end due to buying interest in the MAR-2025 (-39bps) bond but expanded at the mid (+7bps) segment following profit-taking activities on the APR-2032 (+13bps) bond. Elsewhere, the average yield closed flat at the long end.
