18 July 2018 ( Lagos)

NTB’s and Money Market

Opening market liquidity on Tuesday was N265bn (positive). Interbank rates closed within a range of 7% to 14%. On the NTB secondary market, yields dipped at the middle of the curve.

FGN Bond and Euro Bonds

The FGN bond market was fairly active and yields picked up across traded maturities. As for the Eurobond market, there was an uptick in yields for the sovereigns under analyst’s coverage.

FX

The CBN’s daily fx intervention was again US$0.5m, at N305.30. Turnover at the NAFEX plunged from US$124m on Monday to US$71m. Indicative rates ranged from N360 to N363. The USD appreciated against a basket of currencies on the back of an upbeat testimony to the Senate banking committee delivered yesterday by the Fed chairman, Jerome Powell. 

He reinforced confidence in the strong US labour market and broader economy. This is coming on the heels of a similarly bullish outlook indicated by the Fed’s semi-annual report sent to Congress last week. Additionally retail sales data is pointing to annualized GDP growth in Q2 of 4.0% or more.

Source : Gregory Kronsten, Olubunmi Asaolu, Chinwe Egwim from FBNQuest Capital Limited.

Reporting for EasyKobo on Wednesday, 18 July 2018 in Lagos, Nigeria