Treasury Bills Yield Slowdown to 4.50%, Naira Falls
The average yield on Treasury Bills clears one basis point lower to 4.50% on Friday, the same time when Nigerian local currency, naira, fails to hold ground against the onslaught of the United States dollar in the official window.
At the Investors and Exporters foreign exchange market, Naira depreciated by 0.09 per cent as the dollar was quoted at ₦415.10 as against the last close of ₦414.73.
Analysts said most foreign exchange market participants maintained bids between ₦405.00 and ₦444.00 per dollar as the volume of dollars transacted declined by about 17%.
In the money market, pressure on financial system liquidity distorts the downtrend in short term interest rate, causing the interbank rate to edge higher.
the Overnight lending rate increased by 450 basis points to close at 12.50 per cent as against the last close of 8.00 per cent. Also, Open Repo (OPR) rate increased by 4.50 per cent to close at 12.00 per cent compared to 7.50 per cent on the previous day.
Analysts explained that money market rates increased by an average of 450 basis points following debit for the FX retail auction by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
In the Treasury bills space, trading activities in the secondary market closed on a mildly positive note with average yield across the curve decreasing by 1 basis point at 4.45 per cent from 4.46 per cent on the previous day.
Average yield across the medium-term maturities declined by 7 basis points, according to FSDH Capital note. However, the average yields across short-term and long-term maturities remained unchanged at 3.39 per cent and 5.26 per cent, respectively.
NTB 28-Apr-22 (-35 bps) maturity bill witnessed buying interest, while yields on 19 days to maturity bills remained unchanged, according to analysts notes.
In the coming week, analysts at Cordros Capital expects the outcome of the Nigerian Treasury bills auction to shape the direction of yields in the T-bills market.
The Central Bank is set to roll over N17.59 billion worth of maturities to market participants at the auction, according to analysts.
In the open market operations (OMO bills) market, the average yield across the curve closed flat at 5.44 per cent. Average yields across short-term and long-term maturities remained unchanged at 5.42 per cent and 5.53 per cent, respectively.
Also, FGN bonds secondary market closed on a mildly negative as the average bond yield across the curve cleared higher by 1 basis point to close at 8.10 per cent from 8.09 per cent on the previous day.
FSDH Capital said average yield across the short tenor of the curve increased by 1 basis point, while the average yield across the long tenor of the curve decreased by 1 basis point.
However, the average yield across the medium tenor of the curve remained unchanged.
For the rest of the year, analysts at Cordros Capital said they expect yields to oscillate around current levels, driven by thin maturities and deliberate efforts by the Debt Management Office to reduce domestic borrowing costs for the government.
“Also, we expect non-bank liquidity to be geared towards relatively higher non-sovereign instruments, thus tempering demand”,
The FGNGB 15-JAN-2022 bond was the best performer with a decrease in the yield of 12 basis points, while the 13-MAR-2022 maturity bond was the worst performer with an increase in yield of 40 basis points.
Going into next week, FSDH Capital maintains that the secondary bond market is likely to remain subdued in the short term.# Treasury Bills Yield Slowdown to 4.50%, Naira Falls
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