Yield Shifts after CBN Priced Treasury Bills at 19.94%
The average on the Nigerian Treasury bill climbed slightly in the secondary market after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) hiked spot rates at the main auction conducted on Wednesday.
The Treasury Bills market traded actively after primary auction results were released, showing higher stop rates across all tenors. Trading activities heated up as unmet bids spilt over, though trading volumes remained constrained by liquidity issues, TrustBanc Financial Group Limited said in an investors note.
Analysts noted that heightened demand countered profit-taking from auction winnings, particularly for the newly issued 364-day paper, with trades executed around the 19.50-19.60 levels.
The Jun-25, Sep-25, and Feb-26 maturities also attracted significant interest. Consequently, the average benchmark yield closed at 18.98%. TrustBanc expects the prevailing market sentiment to persist, albeit at a moderate pace.
The average yield contracted at the short (-1bp), mid (-1bp) and long (-1bp) segments, driven by the demand for the 77-day to maturity (-1bp), 175-day to maturity (-1bp) and 336-day to maturity (-1bp) bills, respectively.
In contrast, the average yield expanded by 8 basis points to 22.5% in the OMO bills segment in the secondary market. At the auction, the Debt Management Office on behalf of the CBN offered N800 billion, with subscriptions reaching N902.044 billion and allotments totalling 503.919 billion.
Stop rates settled at 18.00%, 18.50%, and 19.94% for the 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day papers, up from previous rates of 17.00%, 17.79%, and 18.39%. However, these tenors began trading below the auction levels, AIICO Capital Limited said. Overall, the average mid-rate for benchmark Treasury bills papers increased by 17 bps.
“We anticipate a mixed to bullish tone in the near term as investors selectively target attractive opportunities,” the investment firm told investors in its market updates. #Yield Shifts after CBN Priced Treasury Bills at 19.94% UBA, ACCESS Drive Intraday Gain in Equities Market
