Bullish sentiments resurfaced in the Nigerian equities market, after seven consecutive weeks of losses. The market closed up on three of the five trading days this week, pushing the All Share Index up 2.17% week on week to 39,216.20pts. Consequently, Year-to-date (YtD) losses thinned to -2.62%, from -4.69% at the end of the previous week. All sectoral indices closed the week on a positive note, led by the NSEIND (+2.94%) and NSEFBT10 (+1.41%). STANBIC (+30.00%) was the top gainer this week, while LIVESTOCK shed 15.46% off its share price, to emerge the biggest loser.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) concluded its second meeting of the year on Tuesday, and as we had expected, the Committee voted to retain the benchmark rate at 11.50% and keep other parameters constant. Several companies released their audited 2020FY results this week. While DANGCEM and WAPCO reported strong top and bottom line growth, ETI recorded YoY declines across gross earnings, PBT and PAT.
Access bank (ACCESS) announced that it had received final approvals from both the South African and Nigerian regulatory authorities to carry on with its proposed acquisition of South African-based Grobank Limited. The lender expects the acquisition process would be completed by Q2:2021.
In the fixed income space, bearish sentiments dominated the secondary market for bonds and T-bills, with average yields rising to 9.73% and 3.97% respectively (vs. 9.44% and 3.29% from the previous week).
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