*Naira gains across markets
By Bamidele Famoofo
WorldStage– Investors in the Nigerian equities market swelled their portfolios with N3.17trillion on Monday as the All-Share index rose by 2.15 percent, closing at 234,178.23 points.
Year to date return was pushed to +50.49 percent as the NGX maintains it’s status as one of the best rewarding bourse globally.
Investor sentiment was strongly positive at a market breadth of 5x, as 54 advancers led by Firstholdco, Wema Bank, ARADEL, NGX Group, and Veritaskap comfortably outpaced 11 decliners, with NAHCO, Vitafoam, CAP, FTG insure, and Thomas Wy recording the most notable losses.
Sectoral performance was broadly positive across the board, as Industrial (+4.89%), Oil & Gas (+4.22%), Banking (+3.05%), Insurance (+2.70%), Commodity (+2.70%), and Consumer Goods (+0.57%) all finished in positive territory.
Trading activity strengthened considerably, with volume, turnover, and deal count climbing 18.40 percent, 40.18 percent, and 32.88 percent to 538.64 million shares, ₦38.70 billion, and 64,065 transactions respectively.
Looking ahead, the market is expected to sustain its recovery momentum, underpinned by ongoing strategic investor repositioning and portfolio rebalancing.
In the money market,the interbank market recorded a mixed session as an injection of system liquidity dragged the overnight NIBOR down 4bps to 22.26 percent.
This liquidity relief bypassed longer-dated maturities, pushing the 1-month, 3-month, and 6-month rates up by 20bps, 31bps, and 49bps, while short-term funding costs diverged as the Overnight rate rose 7bps to 22.25 percent and the Open Repo rate held flat at 22.00 percent.
Similarly, Treasury Bills secondary market trading closed varied. Yields on the 1-month and 6-month papers ticked up by 1bp and 2bps, whereas the 3-month and 12-month bills declined by 5bps and 10bps. Nevertheless, strong volumes and robust investor appetite pulled the average NT-Bills yield down by 9bps to 18.56 percent.
The domestic fixed-income market maintained a positive tone on Monday as an FGN Bonds rally dragged average yields down by 23bps to 17.75 percent. This buying momentum was driven by robust demand from local institutional investors for naira-denominated papers.
Concurrently, the Eurobond market enjoyed a bullish session, with average yields contracting by 7bps to settle at 6.97.percent.
The decline reflects sustained international investor confidence and a strong outlook toward Nigeria’s dollar-denominated sovereign debt.
At the foreign exchange market, the naira recorded a bullish performance, strengthening across both major trading windows. It appreciated by 0.14 percent to close at ₦1,368.27/$ at the official NAFEM window, while also gaining 0.51 percent in the parallel market to settle at ₦1,376/$.
