- Naira slides 3%, dips to ₦1,617.08 per dollar
Despite the ongoing nationwide protests, the bulls regained dominance in the equities market, driven by low valuations, closing the Friday trading session on a positive note.
The All-Share Index recorded a 0.40 percent gain, offsetting the previous session’s losses and closing higher at 97,745.73 points. This remarkable performance saw 36 gainers outpacing just 10 losers.
Similarly, the market capitalization of listed equities increased by 0.40 percent to N55.5 trillion, resulting in a total market gain of N219.14 billion by the end of Friday’s trade.
The major contributors to the day’s gains included OANDO, OKOMUOIL, MAYBAKER, TOTAL, and UCAP, which posted significant share price increases of 10.00 percent, 10.00 percent, 10.00 percent, 9.98 percent, and 9.95 percent, respectively.
Performance was bullish across the sectors: the Banking, Insurance, Consumer Goods, Oil/Gas, and Industrial Goods indices recorded gains of 1.31 percent, 0.99 percent, 0.09 percent, 2.56 percent, and 0.01 percent, respectively.
However, trading activity levels did not mirror the overall market gains, reflecting a downward trend. The total number of deals, traded volume, and value decreased by 3.20 percent, 62.68 percent, and 53.68 percent, totaling 6,603 deals, 210.91 million units, and N3.95 billion, respectively. UBA emerged as the most traded stock in terms of both volume and value, with 37.64 million units valued at N752.02 million, and changing hands in 549 trades.
In the money market, the Overnight NIBOR increased by 8bps to close at 26 percent as banks with liquidity sought higher rates on Friday. Similarly, key money market rates such as the Open Repo Rate (OPR) and Overnight Lending Rate (OVN) surged to conclude at 25.61 percent and 26.06 percent, respectively.
In the Nigerian Interbank, treasury bills’ true yield (NITTY) space, yields exhibited mixed movements across various tenors. Meanwhile, the secondary market for Nigerian Treasury Bills showed a positive trend, causing a marginal decline in the average yield by 0.01 percent to 22.76 percent.
Trading activity in the FGN bond market was slightly bearish, resulting in a marginal 0.01 percent increase in the average yield to 19.77 percent. In Nigeria’s sovereign Eurobonds market, a bearish sentiment prevailed across the short, mid, and long segments of the yield curve, resulting in a 0.25 percent rise in the average yield to 10.45 percent.
In the official NAFEM market, naira depreciated by 3.00 percent, closing at ₦1,617.08 per dollar. In the parallel market, the naira closed at ₦1,595 per dollar.
