The local equities market experienced a pullback on Wednesday, reversing the gains from the previous session.
The All-Share Index declined by 0.35 percent to close at 96,537.48 points, driven by a bearish sentiment that saw 33 stocks decline against 21 gainers.
In line with the index movement, the market capitalisation of listed equities fell by 0.35 percent to N55.45 trillion, resulting in a notable N193 billion loss for equity investors.
The day’s major laggards were OANDO, TIP, RTBRISCOE, NSLTECH, and OMATEK, which recorded significant share price declines of -10.00 percent, -9.95 percent, -9.72 percent, -9.23 percent, and -9.09 percent, respectively. Sectoral performance was broadly negative, with the Banking, Insurance, Consumer Goods, Oil/Gas, and Industrial Goods sectors posting losses of 0.89 percent, 1.13 percent, 0.24 percent, 0.66 percent, and 0.02 percent, respectively.
Trading activity on the NGX mirrored the broader market downturn, as key indicators of trading volume and value suffered.
Total deals dropped by 3.93 percent to 12,039, while the traded volume and value saw sharper declines of 17.71 percent and 21.43 percent, settling at 389.23 million units and N8.18 billion, respectively. OANDO emerged as the most actively traded stock both in terms of volume and value, with 37.18 million units traded, amounting to N3.09 billion transacted in 2,727 deals.
In the money market, NIBOR surged reflecting tightening liquidity pressures as banks with liquidity sought higher rates in Wednesday.
Key money market indicators such as the Open Repo Rate (OPR) and Overnight Rate (O/N) also surged, closing at 28.39 percent and 29.18 percent, respectively, highlighting the strain on liquidity within the system.
In the Nigerian Interbank Treasury Bills market, the Nigerian Interbank Treasury Bills True Yield (NITTY) trended upward across maturities, signifying positive investor interest. Resultantly, the secondary market for Nigerian Treasury Bills saw positive trading momentum, resulting in a slight 0.01 percent decline in the average yield, bringing it down to 19.03 percent.
In the secondary market for FGN Bonds, the average yield declined by 0.02 percent to 18.75 percent, primarily influenced by a significant 60 basis points drop in the yield of the JUN-38 FGN bond.
In Nigeria’s sovereign Eurobonds market, sell sentiment prevailed across the short, mid and long ends of the yield curve, causing a 10bps rise in the average yield to 10.01 percent.
In the foreign exchange market, the Naira lost ground against the US dollar in the official market, sliding by 0.90 percent to close at ₦1,625.88 per dollar. Meanwhile, in the parallel market, the Naira appreciated by 0.62 percent to close at ₦1,615 per dollar.
