MPC retains rates, renewed buying interests in stocks rebound to drive benchmark into green

By Charles Abuede

At the close of trading on Tuesday, the Nigerian equities market closed on a positive note as the benchmark index increased by 0.65 per cent to close at 34,340.56 points due to renewed buying interest, most particularly among banking stocks as Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) retained policy rates after its meeting.

The market cap of equities listed on the NSE increased to N17.943 trillion from N17.830 trillion on the previous day, while the market year to date return improved to 28.21 per cent.

A total of 365.4 million units of shares, valued at N4.69 billion exchanged hands in 6,325 deals. Zenith Bank was the most traded shares by volume and value at 71.9 million units and N1.73 billion, while the market breadth index was positive with 31 gainers against 11 losers. UCAP (+9.52%) led the gainers’ list on Tuesday, while Eterna Plc (-9.98%) topped the laggards.

The sectoral performance improved as the Banking Index inched up by 2.18 per cent, on gains recorded in Fidelity Bank (+9.47%), Sterling Bank (+7.61%), UBN (+7.27%), UBA (+6.49%) and Access Bank (+5.70%). Also, the Insurance Index advanced by +2.02 per cent, on price appreciation in Cornerstone Insurance (+8.62%) and AXA Mansard (+6.36%).

The Consumer Goods Index recorded an improvement by +0.10 per cent, due to the buying interest in Honeywell Flour (+5.56%) and Dangote Sugar (+1.56%), while the Industrial Index rose by +0.06 per cent due to the gain in WAPCO (+0.91%) and the Oil & Gas Index inched slightly +0.03 per cent, as OANDO (+0.35%) closed north.

The NSE 30

The NSE 30 Index increased by 0.63 per cent to close at 1,464.47 points as against 1,455.53 points  on Monday. Market turnover closed with a traded volume of 248.97 million units. Fidelity and Sterling were the key gainers, while Julius Berger and Guinness were the key losers.

FX Market:

At the I&E FX market, Naira appreciated by 0.13 per cent as the dollar was quoted at N385.50 as against the last close of N386. Most participants maintained bids between N383.00 and N394.83 per dollar.

Treasury Bills

In the NT-Bills secondary market, buying interest was seen across long-term maturities with the average yield falling by 2 basis points as the market closed on a positive note, with the average yield across the curve declining by 1 basis point to close at 0.11 per cent from 0.12 per cent on the previous day. However, average yields across short-term and medium-term maturities remained unchanged at 0.06 per cent, and 0.09 per cent, respectively.

In the OMO bills market, the average yield across the curve increased by 1 basis point to close at 0.15 per cent as against the last close of 0.14 per cent. Selling pressure was seen across short-term, medium-term, and long-term maturities with average yields rising by 1 basis point, 3 basis points, and 1 basis point, respectively. Yields on 14 bills advanced with the 11-May-21 maturity bill recording the highest yield increase of 4 basis points, while yields on 10 bills remained unchanged.

Bonds Market

FGN bonds secondary market closed on a positive note Tuesday, as the average bond yield across the curve cleared lower by 3 basis points to close at 1.77 per cent from 1.80 per cent on the previous day. Average yields across short tenor and medium tenor of the curve compressed by 4 basis points each, while the average yield across long tenor of the curve advanced by 1 basis point. The 23-FEB-2028 maturity bond was the best performer with a decline in yield of 20 basis points, while the 18-APR-2037 maturity bond was the worst performer with an increase in yield of 3 basis points.