Daily Financial Markets Update

Commentary

System liquidity declined by 22% to close the week with a surplus of ₦6.62 trillion as at the last released data (April 9th). The Overnight (O/N) rate rose by 4bps to close the week at 22.35%, while Open Buy-Back (OBB) rate was unchanged, holding steady at 22.00%.

Commentary

The T-bills market ended the week on a bullish note, with demand activities boosted by the week's auction. The 4-Feb-2027 and 25-Mar-2027 bills led gains, declining by 18bps and 15bps to 16.11% and 16.05% respectively, while the 25-Jun-2026 bill remained unchanged. The average benchmark rate declined by 13bps W-o-W, closing at 15.98%.

Commentary

The FGN bond market closed the week on a bearish note. The 20-Mar-2027 bond was the standout mover, surging by 155bps to 17.91%, while the 21-Feb-2031 and 25-Jun-2032 bonds rose by 13bps and 10bps respectively. On the other hand, the 15-May-2033 and 21-Feb-2034 bonds bucked the trend, declining by 22bps each. The average benchmark yield rose by 10bps, closing at 15.89%.

Commentary

The Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) Eurobond market traded the week on a bullish note, buoyed by improved investor sentiment following President Trump's announcement of a two-week ceasefire, which raised hopes for a potential resolution to the Iran conflict. However, momentum eased toward the end of the week as profit-taking set in, triggered by a weaker-than-expected U.S. PCE print. On the macro front, U.S. CPI accelerated to 3.3% y/y in March, up from 2.4% in February, underscoring the inflationary impact of elevated energy prices. Against this backdrop, SSA sovereign yields tightened across the curve: Nigeria's Eurobond yields compressed by 29bps to 7.36%, Angola followed with a 32bps decline to 8.57%, while Egypt recorded the sharpest adjustment, tightening by 86bps week on week to 7.43%.

Commentary

The local bourse closed the week on a positive note, as the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) gained 1.02% to settle at 203,770.4 points, while YTD return came in at 30.95%. Sectoral performance closed the week on a largely bullish note, reflecting broad-based buying interest across most key indices. The Banking sector led the gainers, advancing by 5.24%, driven by strong buying momentum in GTCO, which appreciated by 10.66%. The Consumer Goods sector also recorded a positive performance, gaining 1.10%, supported by price appreciation in NASCON, which rose by 1.52%. Similarly, the Industrial Goods sector advanced by 0.80%, buoyed by gains in WAPCO, which climbed by 6.00%. The Oil and Gas sector posted a solid gain of 2.56%, driven by buying interest in Seplat Energy, which increased by 4.95%. Conversely, the Insurance sector closed in negative territory, declining by 3.12%, weighed down by losses in Sovereign Trust Insurance, which fell by 13.55%. Market breadth stood at 0.69x with 22 gainers and 32 losers. Market capitalization improved to ₦131.166 trillion from ₦129.806 trillion in the previous week. Trading activity closed the week mixed, with turnover value increasing to ₦31.46 billion from ₦19.262 billion while volume traded declined to 548.601 million units from 559.976 million units.

Commentary

The U.S. market is trading on a bullish momentum week on week. The S&P 500 (+3.67%), Nasdaq (+4.72%), Dow Jones (+3.17%), and Russell (+4.21%), rose as resilient tech gains and steady inflation expectations outweighed concerns over tensions between the United States and Iran. European markets closed the week in the green, as the STOXX 600 (+3.11%), FTSE 100 (+1.50%), DAX (+2.67%), and CAC 40 (+3.73%) rose mainly due to easing market fears, strong tech earnings (led by TSMC), and optimism around upcoming US-Iran talks. Asian markets closed the week bullish, with the Shanghai (+2.73%), Hang Seng (+3.09%), and Nikkei (+7.15%) on improved sentiment following the Middle East ceasefire and renewed risk appetite across global markets.