The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is expected to rollover N95.7bn worth of maturing Nigerian Treasury Bills (NT-Bills) at a Primary Market Auction (PMA) this Wednesday.
The offer will consist of the 91-day (₦10.00 billion), 182-day (₦17.60 billion), and 364-day (₦68.08 billion) tenors via Primary Market Auction.
“We anticipate a quiet trading in the NT-Bills secondary market as most of the market players are trading remotely due to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak,” analysts at FSDH Research said.
This and the maturing Open Market Operation (OMO) bills expected to hit the market will further enhance the system liquidity put at N520.9 billion as at Friday last week.
“We anticipate a cautious bullish sentiment in the NT-Bills secondary market amidst the continued spread of COVID-19 in the country,” analysts at Afrinvest Securities Limited said.
Afrinvest advised investors to cautiously take position in attractive offers along the curve, primary offers and possible commercial paper issuances.
NT-bills market ended the trading session on a flat note on Tuesday, with average yields remaining unchanged at 3.68 percent.
The Overnight (O/N) rate declined by 5.50 percent to close at 9.83 percent. Also, the Open Buy Back (OBB) rate declined by 6.33 percent to close at 8.50 percent.
In the OMO bills market, the average OMO yields declined by 25 bps to 15.05 percent on Tuesday.
The FGN bond market closed on a positive note on Tuesday, as average yields cleared lower by 2 bps to close at 7.46 percent. Buying interest was witnessed across long tenor bonds with average yield declining by 10 bps.
Trading activities in the Nigerian Treasury Bills secondary market last week began on a bullish note due to buoyant liquidity levels (N371.5bn in the positive as at Monday). The bullish run was further bolstered up by the absence of PMA and OMO offers. However, as the week progressed, this demand tapered down as local investors moved to the side lines following increased concerns of the escalation of the COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria (a jump from 36 to 84 confirmed cases by the NCDC between Monday and Friday).
Nevertheless, pockets of demand were witnessed along the short-end of the curve, as average yield contracted 40bps W-o-W to settle at 2.8%. Particularly, the 02-Jul-20 and 16-Jul-20 bills shed 115bps and 131bps W-o-W respectively. Overall, average yields across the curve dipped 32bps W-o-W to settle at 3.7% from 4.0% the previous week.
