NGX ASI declined by 1.44%, investor lost N2.28trn

Nigerian Stock market extended its bearish streak in today’s session, as the All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 1.44% to close at 243,132.61 points. Consequently, the year-to-date return moderated to 56.24% from 58.53% in the previous session, while market capitalisation shed N2.28trn to settle at N155.94trn.

System liquidity tightened settling at a net negative position of ₦5.24 trillion. Consequently, funding costs increased, with the Overnight Rate rising 2bps to close at 22.19%, while the Nigerian Overnight Financing Rate (NOFR) and Open Repo Rate remained unchanged at 22.00%.

In the FGN bond market, trading activity remained subdued, with most bond yields unchanged since the start of the week. However, bonds maturing in 2027 attracted mild buying interest. Overall, average yields held steady at 16.31%.

Investor appetite persisted in Nigerian Treasury Bills as demand for short-dated securities strengthened. Although average yields declined marginally, buying interest was broad-based across most bills.

Consequently, average yield eased by 2bps to 17.45% from 17.47%.
The earlier rally in Nigeria’s Eurobond market lost momentum. Risk-off sentiment triggered selling pressure across the curve. Meanwhile, oil prices rose unexpectedly following the U.S. announcement that Iran had conceded, as uncertainty intensified amid escalating Middle East tensions. Consequently, average yields increased by 4bps to 6.75% from 6.71%.

NGX negative performance was driven by selloffs in WAPCO (-9.97%), FIRSTHOLDCO (-6.80%), MTNN (-6.95%), and NGXGROUP (-7.71%), which outweighed gains recorded in WEMABANK (+3.17%), UCAP (+3.31%), INTBREW (+2.87%), and FCMB (+1.33%).

Market activity strengthened during the session, with total volume traded rising by 28.41% and total value traded advancing by 44.25%. STERLINGNG (+0.00%) topped the volume chart with 264.59mn units exchanged, while MTNN (-6.95%) led the value chart with transactions worth N17.61bn.

Market breadth closed negative at 0.40x, reflecting weak investor sentiment as decliners outpaced advancers. ABBEYBDS (+9.86%) emerged as the session’s top gainer among the 17 advancing stocks, while WAPCO (-10.00%) led the 43 decliners.