Global Economy

Earlier this week, we observed China’s Caixin/S&P Global services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) eased to 52.5 points in April 2024 from 52.7 points in March 2024, remaining in expansionary territory for the 16th straight month. The 50-mark separates expansion from contraction.

Domestic Economy

Earlier this week, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a circular titled RE: “CyberCrime (Prohibition, Prevention, ETC) (Amendment) Act 2024- Implementation Guidance On The Collection And Remittance of The National Cyber Security Levy,” instructing banks to implement a cyber security levy managed by the National Security Adviser’s office. This levy, stemming from the enactment of the 2024 cyber-crime amendment Act, involves a 0.5% deduction from electronic transactions to support the National Cyber Security Fund.

Equities and stock recommendation

The Nigerian Equities market ended the week on a negative note, with the NGX All Share Index (NGX ASI) losing 1.36% WoW to 98,234.24 points. This is following losses in three (3) out of five trading days of the week. As a result, the market’s year-to-date (YtD) returns fell to 31.38% from last week’s 33.18% YtD. We observed a mixed performance across sectors under our coverage as the Consumer Goods (-1.18% WoW), Insurance (-1.01% WoW), Oil and Gas (-0.33% WoW) and Banking (-0.07% WoW) sectors closed in the red, while only the Industrial Goods sector (+0.07% WoW) recorded marginal gains.

Fixed Income

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) held an NT-bill auction during the week, offering NGN179.36bn worth of treasury bills across the tenors. The average stop rate remained unchanged at 17.98% for the third (3rd) consecutive auction, due to stop rates left constant across the tenors (short-tenor: 16.24%, mid-tenor: 17.00% and long-tenor: 20.70%). Investor demand remained strong, exceeding the previous auction by 20.61%. Total subscriptions reached NGN914.15bn, compared to NGN757.85bn previously.

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