Bearish Sentiment Clouds T-bills Space

• Bearish Sentiment Clouds T-bills Space

Bearish sentiment characterised the secondary market for Treasury bills, as all tenors recorded yield gains, with the six-month gaining by 0.22 per cent to be the least attractive instrument.

The yield on the one-month, three-month, nine-month and 12-month tenors all advanced, appreciating respectively by 0.08 per cent, 0.17 per cent, 0.09 per cent and 0.17 per cent, respectively. Consequently, the average T-bills yield advanced by 0.15 per cent, to close at 15.00 per cent.

The average money market rate declined by 1.16 per cent to 4.13 per cent, due to the respective declines of 1.25 per cent and 1.07 per cent in the open buy-back and overnight rates. System liquidity tightened on the back of the Open Market Operation sales on Wednesday worth N249.68bn.

In line with the Treasury bills space, selling pressure prevailed in the bond space, as the average bond yield advanced, albeit marginally, by 0.03 per cent to close at 13.77 per cent. Yields on four bonds appreciated, while the yields on three instruments declined.

At the interbank and parallel foreign exchange market, the naira traded flat to close at N305.90/dollar and N363/dollar, respectively, according to Meristem Asset Management data.