Daily Financial Markets Update

Commentary

System liquidity opened the week with a surplus of ₦4.57 trillion. The Overnight (O/N) rate rose by 5bps to settle at 22.24%, while Open Buy-Back (OBB) rate was held steady at 22.00%.

Commentary

The T-bills market opened the week on a mildly bullish note, with modest demand across the curve. The 3-Sep-2026 and 18-Feb-2027 bills eased by 6bps to 15.96% and 16.14% respectively, while the 20-May-2027 bill was unchanged. The average benchmark rate declined by 1bp to 16.07%.

Commentary

The FGN bond market opened the week on a quiet but mildly bullish note, with minimal movement across the curve. The 20-Mar-2027 and 17-Apr-2029 bonds eased by 1bp to 17.86% and 16.77% respectively, while the rest of the curve remained unchanged. The average benchmark yield declined by 1bp to 16.31%.

Commentary

The SSA Eurobond market opened the week on a bullish note, though sentiment turned cautious after Iran suspended indirect talks with the U.S. and warned of rising tensions over alleged ceasefire violations. Despite the geopolitical risks, sentiment stayed supported by hopes that an agreement may still be reached. Angola, and Egypt each tightened by 2bps to 7.00%, 7.84%, and 7.05%, respectively.

Commentary

The Nigerian equities market opened the week on a bearish note, with the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) declining by 1.12% to close at 247,571.1 points. Consequently, the market's year-to-date (YTD) return moderated to 59.09%, reflecting broad-based profit-taking and weaker investor sentiment across key sectors. Sectoral performance was largely bearish at the start of the trading week. The Insurance Index emerged as the sole gainer, advancing by 0.79%, supported primarily by a 9.96% appreciation in INTENEGINS. Conversely, the Banking Index laggard, declining by 1.49% amid profit-taking activities, with FIDELITYBK shedding 4.48%. The Consumer Goods Index also closed lower, down 0.99%, weighed by a 1.15% decline in MCNICHOLS. Similarly, the Industrial Goods Index retreated by 3.86%, pressured by a 10.00% drop in BUACEMENT, while the Oil & Gas Index slipped by 0.23%, driven by a 5.78% decline in OANDO. Market breadth stood at 0.67x with 24 gainers and 36 losers. Market capitalization declined slightly to ₦160.25 trillion from ₦160.51 trillion. Trading activity opened the week bearish, with turnover value decreased to ₦23.41 billion from ₦43.43 billion while volume traded decreased to 818.62 million units from 1,204.65 million units.

Commentary

U.S. market is trading mixed. S&P (+0.12%), Nasdaq (+0.31%), Dow Jones (-0.17%), and Russell (-0.64%) amid conflicting U.S.-Iran signals, while AI sector strength supported tech gains. European markets closed the day bearish, STOXX (-0.89%), DAX (-0.44%), FTSE (-0.68%) and CAC (-0.73%) as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and persistent inflation concerns weighed on sentiment and kept rate expectations elevated. Asian markets closed the day mixed, Nikkei (+0.91%), Shanghai (-0.27%) and Hang Seng (+0.86) as investors assessed mixed PMI readings against the backdrop of the ongoing Middle East conflict.