The local bourse closed negative on Tuesday by 1.86 percent as the All Share Index settled at 50,442.37pts.
The market breadth index was also broadly negative with 37 losers against 3 gainers.
At the IEFX window, the Naira depreciated by 0.18% and 0.90% against the GBP and USD to close at N510.83 and N431.00 respectively, while it appreciated by 0.58% against the EUR to close at N430.11.
At the parallel market however, naira may be heading for the worst as it exchanged for N650/$.
Investigations showed that the demand for the dollar is rising on daily basis and operators say, the local currency may become worthless very soon compared to other currencies if urgent steps are not taking to curtail the demand.
According to analysts at the InvestmentOne Financial Services Limited “Going forward, we expect the FX market to be dictated by heightened dollar demand and CBN FX policies.“
However, the negative performance in the market was as a result of the losses printed in TRANSEXPR (-10.00%), INTBREW (-9.91%), MTNN (-9.62%), PZ (-9.62%) and BERGER (-9.49%), which offset the gains recorded in LIVESTOCK (+1.63%), FBNH (+1.36%) and STERLNBANK (+1.32%).
Sectorally, the performances were negative with the Banking recording (-1.85%), Consumer Goods (-1.27%) and Oil and Gas (-0.49%).
In terms of activity levels, total volume and value increased by 58% and 17% respectively as investors exchanged about 156million units of shares worth N2.93billion.
FLOURMILL (-3.03%) was the most actively traded stock with about 19million units of shares worth about N618million.
Similarly, the equities market closed southwards due to the losses recorded across major sectors.
The analysts expressed optimism that “going forward investor’s sentiments would be swayed by the search for real positive returns and developments in the interest rate space.
“We reiterate that this may be a great period to pick up some quality names with a medium to long-term investment horizon,“.
Money market rates were mixed as Open Buy Back rate rose by 17bps to close at 15%, while overnight rate closed flat at 15%.
The bond market traded on a flattish note as yields remained unchanged on most maturities.
However, the yields on the 5yr and 10yr benchmark bond fell by 4bps and 1bp to close at 11.75% and 11.77% respectively, while the yield on the 7yr benchmark bond closed flat at 11.58%.
“In the near term, we expect market activity to be influenced by liquidity levels and foreign investor participation, “analysts said.
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