FREE

The Market Today - 24th March 2017

DMO raises ₦2 billion in first FGN savings bond offering
Yesterday, the Debt Management Office announced that it raised ₦2.07 billion through the new FGN Savings bond aimed at retail investors. Total number of successful subscriptions were slightly over 2,500 for the bonds with a maturity of two years and annual coupon of 13.01% (to be paid quarterly). The DMO also announced that the offer for next month will be open from 3rd to 7th of April with minimum subscription of ₦5,000 and a maximum of ₦50 million as it looks to deepen the nation’s saving culture and diversify the funding base of the FG.

NSE ASI closes flat as mixed sentiment persists
A mixed trading session across key sectors left the NSE ASI unchanged at yesterday’s session. However, we note the turnaround in market breadth as well as the improved appetite for several sector leaders as an indication of a more positive bias in the market. Thus, we expect further mixed trading in today’s session with the bulls outweighing the bears to eke out modest gains.

Stock Watch: UNILEVER reported its FY’16 earnings yesterday with PAT up 158% y/y – dwarfing consensus estimates (82% deviation). The Consumer Goods company however, announced dividend of N0.10/share which was below analysts’ expectation of N0.21/share.

Bullish sentiment drives bond trading activity
Following the higher than expected stop rates at the PMA (particularly for the 364DTM bill), the T-bills market traded bearish as yields advanced 23bps on average. Meanwhile, the bulls regained control in the bond market as yields declined 4bps on average. Whilst we believe the bearish sentiment in the T-bills market will persist at week close, we do not rule out the possibility of a sustained demand in the bond market given the bullish market sentiment.