Nigerian bourse records first positive trading for 2019 as index up 0.62% Thursday

For the first time since the turn of the year, the Nigerian equities market closed positive, as the market All-share Index (ASI) notched mildly higher, by 0.62 per cent to 29,517.73 points amidst interest across large cap stocks.

Consequently, the Month-to-Date loss moderated slightly to -6.09 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, the Banking (+2.74%) index posted the largest gain, following interest in GUARANTY (+6.07%) shares.

The Industrial (+2.24%) and the Oil & Gas (+0.23%) indices also closed positive, owing to price appreciation in DANGCEM (+0.88%) and FO (+5.46%) shares, respectively.

On the flip side, the Insurance (-2.05%) and the Consumer Goods (-1.75%) indices closed negative, following sell pressure in NEM (-9.95%) and NESTLE (-3.37%).

Market breadth turned positive, with 21 gainers and 12 losers, led by LAWUNION (+10.00%) and GUINNESS (-10.00%) respectively.

Total volume of trades increased by 64.0 per cent to 385.29 million units, valued at NGN3.07 billion, and exchanged in 3,677 deals.

Analysts at Cordros Capital have this to say about the market: “Our outlook for equities in the near-to-medium term remains conservative, in the absence of a near term positive catalyst and amidst brewing political concerns”.

The naira weakened against the dollar in the I&E FX window and the parallel market by 0.06 per cent and 0.28 per cent to NGN365.12 and NGN362.00, respectively. Total turnover at the IEW declined by 51.2 per cent to USD142.64 million, with total trades consummated within the NGN362.00-NGN366.50 band.

In the Fixed Income and Money Market, the overnight lending rate eased 300 bps to 24.67 per cent, following inflows from matured OMO bills worth NGN375.35 billion.

The CBN mopped up NGN297.49 billion via OMO auction, selling NGN1.19 billion of the 91DTM, NGN12.68 billion of the 189DTM and NGN283.62 billion of the 364DTM, at respective stop rates of 11.90 per cent, 13.50 per cent and 15.00 per cent.

Trading in the NTB secondary market was bullish, as average yield compressed by 4 bps to 15.38 per cent. Yields at the short (-3 bps), mid (-7 bps) and long (-4 bps) segments contracted, driven by demand for the 28DTM (-72 bps), 98DTM (-49 bps) and 308DTM (-32 bps) bills, respectively.

Proceedings in the bond market were bearish, as yield rose by 3 bps, on average, to 15.30 per cent. Sell pressure was concentrated at the short (+11 bps) and long (+1 bp) ends of the curve, following selloffs of the FEB-2020 (+34 bps) and APR-2037 (+5 bps) bonds, respectively.

Conversely, yield at the mid (-1 bp) segment contracted, on the back of demand for the JAN-2026 (-6 bps) bond.