Daily Financial Markets Update

Commentary

System liquidity opened with a surplus of ₦5.91 trillion. The Overnight (O/N) rate rose by 10bps to close at 22.29%, while Open Buy-Back (OBB) rate was unchanged, holding steady at 22.00%.

Commentary

The T-bills market traded with a mildly bearish bias as market participants repriced following the OMO auction today, though the 8-Apr-2027 bill eased by 5bps to 15.75%. The CBN also conducted an OMO auction, with the 140-day bill heavily oversubscribed at ₦1.71trn, allotted in full at 19.91%. The average benchmark rate rose by 1bp, closing at 15.98%.

Commentary

The FGN bond market traded on a quiet note today, with limited activity across the curve. The 21-Feb-2034 bond was the key mover, rising by 19bps to 16.40%, while the 20-Mar-2027 and 15-May-2033 bonds eased marginally by 6bps and 7bps respectively. The average benchmark yield closed flat at 15.89%.

Commentary

The SSA Eurobond market traded on a bullish footing today, as easing tensions surrounding the U.S.-Iran standoff buoyed risk sentiment globally. With the possibility of peace talks resuming this week, sovereign yields lowered across the region. Nigeria's yields declined by 13bps to 7.25%, Angola tightened by 25bps to 8.37%, while Egypt declined by 18bps to 7.34%.

Commentary

The local bourse closed the day on a positive note, as the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) gained 0.7% to settle at 205,913.9 points, while YTD return came in at 32.32%. Sectoral performance closed the day on a positive note, with all key indices recording gains, reflecting sustained buying interest across the market. The Oil and Gas sector led the advancers, rising by 4.36%, supported by buying interest in SEPLAT, which gained 9.42%. Then followed by Banking sector with a notable increase of 1.79%, driven by strong gains in Stanbic and ETI, both of which appreciated by 10.00%. The Consumer Goods sector also posted a solid gain of 1.24%, buoyed by a sharp 9.86% rise in UNIONDICON. Similarly, the Insurance sector advanced by 0.65%, underpinned by a 9.94% uptick in CORNERST. The Industrial Goods sector recorded a moderate increase of 0.71%, supported by gains in WAPCO, which rose by 5.06%. Market breadth stood at 1.90x with 40 gainers and 21 losers. Market capitalization improved to ₦132.492 trillion from ₦131.621 trillion. Trading activity closed the day bullish, with turnover value increasing to ₦32.25 billion from ₦32.02 billion while volume traded increased to 569.309 million units from 464.113 million units.

Commentary

The U.S. market is trading bullish. The S&P 500 (+0.94%), Nasdaq (+1.49%), Russell (+1.31%), and Dow Jones (+0.64%) all rising on improved investor sentiment driven by optimism over easing Middle East tensions and renewed U.S.–Iran talks. European markets closed the day bullish, as the STOXX 600 (+0.90%), FTSE 100 (+0.25%), DAX (+1.21%), and CAC 40 (+1.04%) all rose, driven by improved investor sentiment on renewed US–Iran diplomatic optimism, easing energy concerns, and sector-specific earnings performance across Europe. Asian markets closed the day bullish, with the Hang Seng (+0.95%), Shanghai (+2.43%), and Nikkei (+0.82%) edging higher on improved risk sentiment driven by renewed US–Iran diplomatic optimism, easing oil prices, and broad-based gains across financial, consumer, and technology stocks.