Nigerian equities market halts bearish run as Index up 0.15% Wednesday

The Nigerian equities market halted its two-day bearish trend to close on a positive note on Wednesday as the benchmark index increased by 0.15 per cent to 29,193.42 points, driven by buying interest in bellwether stocks.

Thus, the Month-to-Date and the Year-to-Date losses moderated to -5.95 per cent and -7.12 per cent respectively.

On sectoral performance, the Consumer Goods (-0.44%), Insurance (-0.62%) and Industrial Goods (-0.44) indices recorded losses, while the Banking (+0.49%) closed in the green.

The Oil and Gas index was flat. Notable stocks include UNILEVER (-2.86%), NEM (-4.76%), CUTIX (-10.00%), and UBA (+2.44%), respectively.

Market breadth was positive, with 18 losers and 24 gainers, led by CUTIX (-10.00%) and LIVESTOCK (+10.00%) shares, respectively. Total volume of trades increased by 28.8% to 481.63 million units, valued at NGN2.88 billion exchanged in 3,559.00 deals.

Analysts at Cordros Capital say: “In the absence of a positive catalyst, we guide investors to trade cautiously in the short term. However, stable macroeconomic fundamentals and compelling valuation remain supportive of recovery in the mid-to-long term”.

In the currency market, USD/NGN appreciated by 0.06% to NGN360.33 in the I&E FX window, but closed flat at NGN360.00 at the parallel market. Total turnover in the IEW increased by 49.66% to USD335.03 million, with trades consummated within the NGN345.00-NGN362.00/USD band.

In the money market and fixed income market, the overnight lending rate widened by 7 bps to 16.29 per cent on Wednesday in the absence of any significant inflows.

Proceedings in the Treasury Bills market were bullish, as average yield moderated by 6 bps to 13.29%. Buy sentiment was spread across the short (-5 bps), mid (-6 bps) and long (-6 bps) segments, with yields on the 36DTM (-47 bps), 120DTM (-69 bps) and 197DTM (-34 bps) bills recording the most significant contractions.

Activities in the bond market were bearish, as average yield expanded by 2 bps to 14.25 per cent. Sell pressure was spread across the short (+1 bp), mid (+4 bps) and long (+2 bps) segments, with respective yields on the MAR-2024 (+27 bps), FEB-2028 (+9 bps) and MAR-2036 (+4 bps) bonds widening.