(Greenwich Merchant Bank): The NT-bills space traded flattish as investors remained at the sidelines ahead of the Primary Market Auction (PMA) tomorrow where the CBN is expected to roll over maturing bills. Thereby, the average yield steadied at an average of 2.1% as at the close of trade today.
The Apex bank will be offering NGN4.4bn, NGN14.0bn, and NGN70.5bn across the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day instruments respectively at the PMA tomorrow. We expect investors to widen their bid range, consequently, pushing stop rates higher across all maturities.
Elsewhere, system liquidity rose 15.4% to NGN90.1bn easing funding pressure. As a result, the Open Buy Back and Over Night rate fell by 1.3%pts and 0.3%pts each to 10.3% and 11.5% respectively.
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Yields in the OMO market rose 4bps to average 6.6%, as selloffs across the short end and intermediate segment outweighed buying interests seen at the long end of the market. The Bond market closed marginally bullish, with the average bond yield down 2bps to 9.4%. Across the market, the short and mid ends of the curve traded flat while the long end was slightly bullish (-5bps). The 27-MAR-2050 instrument (-17bps) closed as the market favourite for the day.
In the Parallel FX market, the Naira weakened by NGN2.00/USD to trade at NGN484.00/ USD from its previous close of NGN482.00/USD. At the I&EW, the naira fell by NGN0.12/ USD to close at NGN412.00/USD.
