Mixed Sentiments Cost NGX Marginal Loss of N11 Billion

Activities on the floor of Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) ended mixed on Thursday albeit with a bullish tilt, as the benchmark index eked out a meagre 9.27 basis points to close at 105,515.99 points, while market capitalisation lost N11 billion to close N66.17 trillion.

Trading data for the day showed that 0.11% gain in the shares of Zenith Bank, alongside 7.13% in Transcorp Hotels and 2.36% upward price movement in Fidelity Bank outweighed the combined effect of 2.19% loss in the shares of Oando Plc,1.96% in International Breweries, putting the market in the green

Trading metrics further showed a decline in market turnover, with Volume and Value decreasing by 9.35% and 27.24% to 397,118,887 shares and N8.74 billion respectively.

The reduction suggests lower investor participation indicating cautious market sentiment at the NGX.

Meanwhile, the market breadth ratio stood at 0.63, indicating a predominance of declining stocks over advancing ones. In a similar way, the number of deals fell by 20.94%, down to 13,667, reinforcing the notion of reduced investor engagement on the day.

While massive investors’ activities in the shares of Universal Insurance topped the volume chart with 49.75 million units traded, GTCO drove the value side of the session with N1.78 billion worth of transactions, to maintain the spot on the value chart for the second time in a row.

The money market

Elsewhere, the overnight lending rate in the money market declined by 8bps to 26.9% in the absence of any significant inflows to the system.

The Treasury bills secondary market traded with bullish sentiments, as the average yield contracted by 3bps to 19.5%.

Across the curve, the average yield for the short-, mid- and long-term instruments declined, driven by demand for the 84-day maturity, 175-day instrument and the 280-day bill leading to 1 basis points losses in the first two and a whooping 50 basis points in the 280-day bill, respectively.

Similarly, the average yield contracted by 2bps to 24.2% in the OMO segment. The FGN bond secondary market was quiet, albeit with a bullish tilt, as the average yield declined by 1bp to 18.5%.

Across the benchmark curve, the average yield decreased at the short (-1bp) and mid (-1bp) segments, driven by demand for the JUL-2030 (-5bps) and FEB-2031 (-7bps) bonds, respectively, while it closed flat at the long end.