DanSugar, UBA, Oando sell pressure cost NGX N4.5bn as July opens unsweetened

The Nigerian equities market began the new trading month and quarter on a bearish note with sell pressure on Oando Plc (-8.5%), Dangote Sugar (-0.8%), and UBA (-0.7%) driving negative performance as the All-Share Index slid by 0.2 percent to 37,898.59  points. Accordingly, market to date loss was unchanged at -5.9 percent while market capitalisation fell by N4.5 billion to N19. 75 trillion from the N19.76 trillion recorded in the previous session.

Similarly, the level of trading activity declined as volume and value traded fell by 3.9 percent and 15.5 percent respectively to 205.5 million units and N2.7 billion. The most traded stocks by volume were Guaranty Trust Company (41.8m units), Mutual Benefits Assurance (14.7m units), and Wema Bank (13.2m units) while Guaranty Trust Company (N1.3bn), Zenith Bank (N233.8m), and Stanbic IBTC (N227.6m) led by value.

On the other hand, the market performance across the sectors was positive as four indices gained, one index lost while the industrial goods index remained flat. The banking and insurance indices led the gainers, up by 0.4 percent apiece, due to buying interest in Zenith Bank (+0.6%), Wema Bank (+9.5%), Linkage Assurance (+9.5%), and Aiico Insurance (+1.0%). Similarly, the consumer goods and ICT indices rose by two basis points and one basis point respectively, on the back of price appreciation in PZ Cussons (+8.6%), Vitafoam (+2.3%), and CWG (+9.6%). On the contrary, the oil & gas index was the lone loser, down 1.3 percent mainly driven by sell pressure on Oando Plc (-8.5%).

Investors sentiment remained unchanged at 1.3x as 20 stocks gained while 15 stocks lost. Tripple G (+10.0%), Ikeja Hotel (+9.8%), and CWG (+9.6%) led gainers while Royal Exchange (-9.8%), Oando Plc (-8.5%), and Mutual Benefits Assurance (-7.0%) led decliners.

The NGX 30 Index marginally decreased by 0.05 percent to close at 1,594.15 points as against 1,594.87 points on the previous day. Market turnover closed with a traded volume of 106.26 million units. First Bank Holding and Zenith Bank were the key gainers, while Guaranty Trust Company and Dangote Sugar were the key losers.

At the I&E FX market, the Naira appreciated by 0.19 percent as the dollar was quoted at N410.70 to a dollar as against the last close of N411.50 per dollar. Most participants maintained bids between N400 and N420.95 per dollar.

On Nigerian Treasury bills, the secondary market closed on a flat note with the average yield across the curve remaining unchanged at 6.58 percent. Average yields across short-term, medium-term, and long-term maturities closed flat at 4.35 percent, 5.46 percent, and 8.10 percent, respectively. However, selling pressure was seen in the NTB 26-May-22 maturity bill with a yield increase of 19  basis points, while buying interest was seen in the NTB 9-Jun-22 maturity bill with a yield decrease of 18  basis points.

At the CBN’s scheduled Primary Market Auction held on June 30, it sold NT-Bills worth N163.62 billion across the 91-day (N2.26 billion), 182-day (N3.32 billion), and 364-day (N158.04 billion) tenors. The stop rates for the 91-day and 182-day remained unchanged at 2.50 percent and 3.50 percent, respectively. However, the stop rate for the 364-day tenor cleared lower at 9.15 percent (-25  basis points). The auction was highly oversubscribed by 446 percent, with bid-to-cover ratios settling at 1.75x (91-day), 0.26x (182-day), and 7.41x (364-day).

In the OMO bills market, the average yield across the curve decreased by one basis point to close at 9.86 percent as against the last close of 9.87 percent. Mild buying interest was seen across the long-term maturities with the average yield falling by 2  basis points. However, the average yields across short-term and medium-term maturities closed flat at 9.29 percent and 9.78 percent, respectively. Buying interest was seen in the OMO 15-Mar-22 (-12  basis points), OMO 1-Mar-22 (-8  basis points), and OMO 15-Feb-22 (-2  basis points) maturity bills, while yields on 21 bills remained unchanged.

FGN bonds secondary market closed on a mildly positive note on Thursday as the average bond yield across the curve cleared lower by 7  basis points to close at 9.76 percent from 9.83 percent on the previous day. Average yields across the short tenor, medium tenor, and long tenor of the curve declined by 4  basis points, 20  basis points, and 11  basis points, respectively. The 18-JUL-2034 maturity bond was the best performer with a decline in yield of 55  basis points.