*As Naira appreciates by 0.42% to ₦1,361.05/$
By Bamidele Famoofo
The Nigerian equities market extended its bearish trend on Tuesday, with the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) declining by 0.35.percent to close at 246,686.66 points.
As a result, the year-to-date return moderated to 58.53 percent, while market capitalisation fell by approximately ₦478 billion to ₦158.21 trillion, partly influenced by the additional listing of Fidson Healthcare shares.
Market breadth remained weak at 0.38x, reflecting 37 decliners against 14 gainers. The top gainers included INTENEGINS,
TRANSEXPR, NEIMETH, LIVINGTRUST, and ABBEYBDS, while CWG, PZ, ABCTRANS, WEMABANK, and SOVRENINS led the laggards’ chart.
Sector performance was largely negative, as losses were recorded in the Banking (-1.63%), Insurance (-0.44%), Consumer Goods (-0.50%), and Oil & Gas (-0.04%) indices. The Industrial Goods and Commodity sectors, however, closed flat at 0.00 percent. Trading activity was subdued, with declines in the number of deals, volume, and value by 21.98.percent, 36.26 percent, and 33.82 percent, respectively, to 71,683 deals, 718.77 million shares, and ₦29.31 billion.
Looking ahead, market sentiment is expected to remain mixed in the next trading session.
In the money market,NIBOR declined across all tenors on Tuesday, driven by improved banking system liquidity, with the overnight rate falling by 13bps and longer tenors also easing. Funding rates were mixed, as the OPR edged lower while the Open Repo rate remained unchanged.
In the Treasury bills market, yields generally trended downward across most maturities, reflecting sustained investor demand and positive sentiment. As a result, the average NT-Bills yield fell marginally to 17.47 percent.
The FGN bond market ended the session largely unchanged, with average yields stable at 16.31.percent. This reflected subdued trading activity and weak investor demand for naira-denominated sovereign instruments. Overall, the lack of significant yield movement points to cautious positioning by investors amid ongoing market uncertainty and expectations surrounding future monetary policy direction.
The sovereign Eurobond market posted gains, with average yields falling by 5 basis points to 6.71 percent. The improvement was driven by stronger global risk sentiment and sustained investor demand for Nigeria’s dollar-denominated bonds, supported by a more favorable external environment and steady confidence in the country’s credit outlook.
The naira recorded mixed performance across foreign exchange market segments on Tuesday. At the official NAFEM window, the currency appreciated by 0.42 percent to close at ₦1,361.05/$, while in the parallel market, it weakened by 0.29 percent to settle at ₦1,370/$.
