By Bamidele Famoofo
WorldStage– The Nigerian Exchange ( NGX), one Africa’s leading bourse, ended the week on a positive note, with the All-Share Index advancing 0.76 percent to 198,407.30 points, pushing the year-to-date return to 27.50 percent .
Market capitalization similarly expanded by 0.76 percent, adding N961.92 billion to N127.36 trillion. Market sentiment was favorable at 1.75x, with 35 gainers outpacing 20 losers. GUINNESS, ROYALEX, UPL, MAYBAKER, and FTGINSURE emerged as top performers, whereas RTBRISCOE, LEARNAFRICA, NGXGROUP, HMCALL, and MANSARD recorded the heaviest losses.
Sectoral activity was mixed: Industrial led gains with a 3.06 percent rally, followed by Banking climbing 0.84 percent, Consumer Goods increasing 0.51 percent, and Oil & Gas edging up 0.08 percent . In contrast, Insurance declined 0.50 percent, while Commodity remained unchanged. Trading metrics showed divergent results as transaction value tumbled 21.76 percent to N35 billion and deal count decreased 4.33 percent to 53,066 transactions, while share volume rose 7.51 percent to 591 million units.
At the money market, Nigerian Interbank Offered Rates displayed mixed movements on Friday, with the overnight rate falling 8bps to 22.22 percent, reflecting enhanced system liquidity. Similarly, the 1-month tenor declined by 24bps, while the 3-month and 6-month maturities climbed by 11bps and 32bps respectively. Money market costs showed divergent trends, with the Overnight rate rising 3bps to 22.33 percent, whereas the Open Repo rate held steady at 22.00 percent.
In the Treasury Bills segment, secondary market yields exhibited varied performance, with the 1-month, 3-month, and 6- month tenors dropping by 25bps, 13bps, and 7bps respectively, whereas the 12-month maturity increased by 6bps. The composite NT-Bills average yield settled at 17.66 percent, indicating weakened investor confidence and a less favorable environment in the secondary market.
The Nigerian FGN bonds market closed on a bullish note, with average yields falling 3bps to 15.76 percent, signaling enhanced optimism and strong appetite from domestic investors for naira-based fixed-income instruments.
Conversely, the Nigerian Eurobonds segment ended negatively, with average yields climbing 4bps to 7.25 percent, demonstrating reduced demand and cautious sentiment among global investors toward the nation’s dollar-denominated sovereign debt amid ongoing uncertainty from geopolitical tensions involving the US, Israel, and Iran.
The naira strengthened across both exchange channels on Friday, appreciating 0.39 percent to N1,366.23/$ at the NAFEM window and rising 0.29 percent to N1,386/$ in the parallel market, reflecting improved currency sentiment across both the regulated official segment and the informal foreign exchange market.
