Charles Abuede
The equities market remains depressed in the first trading sessions of the week as selloffs across top counters persist due to price depreciation in GTBank (-2.6%), Nigerian Breweries (-5.3%) and International Breweries (-3.8%) which dragged down the benchmark index by 0.22 per cent to 38,561.84 points. Consequently, the market year to date loss worsened to -4.2 per cent and market capitalisation declined to N20.17 trillion while market investors lost N45.3 billion from selloffs.
Likewise, activity level declined as the volume and value of transactions dipped 37.2 per cent and 33.2 per cent apiece to 184.5 million units and N2.5 billion. The most traded stocks by volume were First Bank Holding (31.1m units), Notore Plc (22.0m units) and Fidelity Bank (15.3m units) while Notore Plc (N1.4bn), First Bank Holding (N226.0m), and Zenith Bank (N163.3m) led by value.
Performance across sectors under our coverage was mixed. The Insurance and Oil & Gas indices gained 2.0 and 0.7 per cent respectively due to buying interest in NEM (+7.9%), Wapic Plc (+10.0%), Seplat Petroleum (+0.9%) and Oando Plc (+1.7%). Conversely, the consumer goods and banking indices dipped 1.5 per cent and 1.0 per cent respectively following price declines in Nigerian Breweries (-5.3%), International Breweries (-3.8%), GTBank (-2.6%) and Zenith Bank (-0.7%). Lastly, the Industrial goods and ICT indices closed flat.
Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth, strengthened to 1.0x from the 0.7x recorded previously as 17 stocks advanced against 17 decliners. Wapic Plc (+10.0%), Northern Nigeria Flour Mills (+9.7%) and Smurfit (+8.3%) were the top gainers while Regency Alliance Insurance (-9.1%), Livestock (-8.5%) and Nigerian Breweries (-5.3%) were the top losers.
NSE 30
The NSE 30 Index decreased by 0.32 per cent to close at 1,530.63 points as against 1,535.59 points as on the previous day. Market turnover closed with a traded volume of 81.68 million units. Fidelity and FBNH were the key gainers, while Nigerian Breweries and International Breweries were the key losers.
Foreign Exchange Market
In the foreign exchange the Naira steadied at N485 to the dollar, while at the I&E foreign exchange market, Naira appreciated by 0.27 per cent as the dollar was quoted at N408.90 to a dollar as against the last close of N410 per dollar. Most market participants maintained bids between N390 and N412.20 per dollar.
Treasury Bills Market
In the treasury bills market, trading was flat at an average of 2.83 per cent as yields were unchanged across the tickers. Thus, the average yields across short-term, medium-term, and long-term maturities closed at 0.61 per cent, 3.05 per cent, and 3.84 per cent, respectively.
Also, bullish sentiment pervaded the OMO market, pushing the average yield across the curve decreased by 15 basis points to close at 6.64 per cent as against the last close of 6.79 per cent. The market was supported by buying interest across the short-term, medium-term, and long-term maturities with average yields declining by 13 basis points, 25 basis points, and 3 basis points, respectively. However, yields on 19 bills declined with the 24-Aug-21 maturity bill registering the highest yield decrease of 90 basis points, while yields on 9 bills remained unchanged.
Bonds Market
Elsewhere, the Bond market closed bearish as the average bond yield across the curve cleared higher by 6 bps to close at 5.96 per cent from 5.90 per cent on the previous day. Average yields across short tenor and medium tenor of the curve increased by 2 basis points and 30 basis points, respectively. However, the average yields across the long tenor of the curve declined by 1 basis point. Consequently, the 26-APR-2049 bond was the best performer with a decline in yield of 13 basis points, while the 22-JAN-2026 bond was the worst performer with an increase in the yield of 103 basis points.
