Charles Abuede
Sustained sell-offs continued in the local equities market on Tuesday as the market all share index taper by 0.29 per cent to settle at 38,601.83 points on the back of sell-offs in major tickers as MTN Nigeria (-2.4%), Guinness Nigeria Plc (-9.9%) and Zenith Bank (-0.5%). As a result, the market year to date loss worsened to -4.1 per cent and market capitalisation declined to settle at N20.20 trillion from N20.26 trillion. Thus, market investors recorded a loss of N57.9 billion on the trading floor on Tuesday.
On the other hand, the level of trading activity improved as volume and value of trade exchanged rose 7.6 per cent and 113.3 per cent respectively to 208.7 million units and N2.9 billion. The most traded stocks by volume were Fidelity Bank (38.6m units), GTBank (32.8m units), and First Bank Holding (16.9m units) while GTBank (N951.3m), Dangote Cement (N412.3m), and MTN Nigeria (N360.6m) led by value.
Across the sectorial front in the equities market, the performance witnessed was bearish as 4 indices recorded performances in the red zone. although, the Insurance and Banking indices gained 59 basis points and 3 basis points respectively due to price appreciation in AXA Mansard (+3.2%), NEM Insurance (+0.5%), Stanbic IBTC (+5.8%) and First Bank Holding (+1.4%), the ICT led losers with a 1.2 per cent decline on the back of sell-offs in MTN Nigeria (-2.4%). Conversely,  the consumer goods and Oil & Gas indices also declined by 37 basis points and 20 basis points respectively due to price declines in Guinness Nigeria Plc (-9.9%) and Oando Plc (-2.6%). Meanwhile, price weakness in Wapco Plc (-0.5%) dragged the Industrial goods index lower by 5 basis points.
In the meantime, the Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth remained at 0.8x, same as in the previous session as 15 stocks advanced against 18 decliners. Japaul Gold (+8.7%), Nahco Plc (+7.4%) and Sterling Bank (+7.1%) were the top gainers while Guinness Nigeria Plc (-9.9%), Tripple Gee Company (-9.7%), and NCR (-9.7%) were the top decliners.
NSE 30
Elsewhere, the NSE 30 Index decreased by 0.29 per cent to close at 1,532.60 points as against 1,537.06 points as on the previous day. Market turnover closed with a traded volume of 131.37 million units. Sterling Bank and Stanbic IBTC Bank were the key gainers, while Guinness Nigeria and Julius Berger were the key losers.
FX
In the foreign exchange market on Tuesday, the Nigerian Naira depreciated by 0.31 per cent as the dollar was quoted at N411 as against the last close of N409.75 at the investors and Exporters window. Also, at the official CBN window, the naira traded flat on a day on day basis at N379 per dollar. Most participants maintained bids between N400 and N420 per dollar.
T-Bills
Further afield into the treasury bills secondary market, it closed on a negative note with average yield across the curve increasing by 7 basis points to close at 4.46 per cent from 4.39 per cent on the previous day. The average yield across long-term maturities widened by 12 basis points. However, the average yields across short-term and medium-term maturities closed flat at 2.41 per cent and 3.25 per cent, respectively. The yields on the 31-Mar-22 maturity bill advanced by 128 basis points, while yields on 20 bills remained unchanged.
In the OMO bills market, the average yield across the curve remained unchanged at 6.79 per cent. Average yields across short-term, medium-term, and long-term maturities closed at 3.77 per cent, 6.22 per cent, and 7.79 per cent, respectively.
Bonds Market
FGN bonds secondary market closed on a negative note on Tuesday, as the average bond yield across the curve cleared higher by 112 basis points to close at 8.21 per cent from 7.09 per cent on the previous day. Average yields across short tenor and long tenor of the curve widened by 143 basis points and 22 basis points, respectively. However, the average yield across the medium tenor of the curve remained unchanged.
The 24-JUL-2045 maturity bond was the best performer with a decline in yield of 8 basis points, while the 27-APR-2023 maturity bond was the worst performer with an increase in yield of 336 basis points.
