Bearish sentiment persisted on the Exchange as the All-Share Index declined by 0.67 percent, closing Tuesday’s session at 96,928.52 points.
Despite a higher number of gainers (30) compared to losers (25), the equities market saw a total loss of N371 billion.
Major contributors to the decline included stocks like BUACEMENT (-9.99%), THOMASWY (-8.52%), CHAMPION (-7.97%), ETERNA (-7.37%), and FIDSON (-6.78%). Conversely, ACADEMY, NASCON, OANDO, SKYAVN, and RTBRISCOE led the gainers’ chart with notable share price increases of +10.00 percent, +10.00 percent, +9.89 percent, +9.80 percent, and +9.78 percent, respectively.
This mixed performance was reflected in increased trading activity levels. The total traded volume and value rose by 38.64 percent and 8.32 percent, reaching 449.21 million units and N6.74 billion, respectively.
However, the total number of deals declined by 3.67 percent to 9,381. Sector performance was relatively bullish, with the Banking, Insurance, and Consumer Goods indices rising by 0.24 percent, 0.29 percent, and 0.52 percent, respectively. In contrast, the Industrial Goods index plummeted by 3.69 percent, driven by declines in BUA CEMENT and BERGER PAINTS, and the Oil/Gas index fell by 0.17 percent due to a drop in ETERNA’s share price.
Overall, the market capitalization of listed equities decreased by 0.67 percent; settling at N55.03 trillion. UBA emerged as the most traded stock in terms of volume and value, with 62.83 million units worth N1.31 billion exchanged in 629 trades.
In the money market, the Overnight NIBOR increased by 4bps to close at 26.00 percent as banks with liquidity sought higher rates. Key money market rates such as the Open Repo Rate (OPR) and Overnight Lending Rate (OVN) concluded at 25.35 percent and 25.90 percent, respectively.
In the Nigerian Interbank Treasury Bills market, NITTY rates rose across all tenor buckets, driven by buying interest ahead of tomorrow’s NTB auction, with expectations that the CBN will increase rates. Consequently, the secondary market for Nigerian Treasury Bills exhibited a positive trend, leading to a marginal decline in the average yield by 0.01 percent to 22.91 percent.
Trading activity in the FGN bond market was slightly bearish, with yield expansions of 29bps and 1bp in the MAR-25 and JAN-26 FGN bonds, thus resulting in a 0.01% increase in the average yield to 19.88 percent. In Nigeria’s sovereign Eurobonds market, a bullish sentiment prevailed across the short, mid, and long segments of the yield curve, resulting in a 0.14 percent decline in the average yield to 10.81 percent.
In the official NAFEM market, naira appreciated by 0.38 percent, closing at ₦1,601.00 per dollar. In the parallel market, the naira closed at ₦1,575 per dollar.
