Naira flat in streets; T-bills, bonds yields in green on CBN, DMO auctions

The Naira stayed calm at N515 to the dollar retaining the previous day’s close of N515 as the local currency grappled for stability in the street FX segment of the market.

But the currency depreciated by 0.06 percent to trade N411.67 to the dollar in the Investors’ and Exporters’ window as against the last close of N411.40. Most market participants maintained bids of between N400 and N412.26 per dollar.

In the treasury bills secondary market, it was another bullish day for traders as the average yield across the curve declined by nine basis points to close at 5.45 percent from the last close of 5.54 percent. Also, the average yield across the short-term maturities fell by 28 basis points.

However, the average yields across medium-term and long-term maturities remained unchanged at 5.39 percent and 7.26 percent, respectively. Though yields on six bills compressed with the 14-Oct-21 maturity bill recording the highest yield decrease of 44 basis points, yields on 15 bills remained unchanged.

Elsewhere, the CBN, on Wednesday held its scheduled Primary Market Auction where it sold Nigerian treasury bills worth N156.33 billion across the 91-day (N4.80 billion), 182-day (N3.75 billion), and 364-day (N147.78 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 7.35 percent (-85 basis points). The auction was highly oversubscribed by 674 percent, with bid-to-cover ratios settling at 0.73x (91-day), 0.32x (182-day), and 14.34x (364-day).

In the OMO bills market, the average yield across the curve remained unchanged at 7.66 percent. Average yields across short-term, medium-term, and long-term maturities closed flat at 7.34 percent, 7.60 percent, and 8.32 percent, respectively.

Also, the FGN bonds secondary market closed on a positive note on Thursday, as the average bond yield across the curve cleared lower by 13 basis points to close at 8.77 percent from 8.90 percent on the previous day. Average yields across the short tenor, medium tenor, and long tenor of the curve declined by 15 basis points, 6 basis points, and 7 basis points, respectively. The 26-APR-2049 maturity bond was the best performer with a decline in yield of 50 basis points.

Meanwhile, at the FGN Savings Bond Auction for August 2021, the DMO allotted bonds worth N888.21 million across the 2-year (N204.96 million) and 3-year (N683.25 million) tenors at coupon rates of 8.864 percent (+51 basis points) and 9.864 percent (+51 basis points), respectively. Allotment for 2-year bonds decreased by 39.90 percent compared to N341.01 million allotted in the last auction, while allotment for 3-year bonds increased by 10.03 percent versus N620.99 million allotted in the previous auction.