Dangote Refinery is making significant strides both globally and locally. For the first time, a 90,000 metric ton cargo of gasoline from the refinery will be exported beyond West Africa, heading to Asia via Mercuria, reflecting the company’s growing international presence and production stability. Simultaneously, the refinery has announced plans to begin nationwide distribution of petrol and diesel starting August 15, leveraging 4,000 CNG-powered tankers and a wide-reaching logistics network to ease delivery and reduce costs. This move comes amid a fuel scarcity scare in Lagos caused by a standoff between tanker drivers and the Lagos State Government over a controversial N12,500 truck fee under the new E-Call Up system, designed to manage traffic and logistics in the Lekki-Epe corridor. Stakeholders like NARTO and IPMAN argue that the fee is too high and the policy rollout premature, warning of halted fuel loading unless a compromise is reached.
Money Market
Market liquidity closed the week at a credit balance of ₦181 billion, marking a significant decline of ₦1.039 trillion from Thursday’s levels. The drop was largely driven by NTB auction settlements and the maturity of FX derivatives between the Apex bank and certain commercial banks. The Open Buy Back (OBB) rate and the Overnight (OVN) rate closed at 28.17% and 28.92%, respectively.
FGN Treasury Bills Market
The FGN Treasury Bills Market witnessed a mildly active week, kicking off with an OMO auction notice announcement from the CBN, floating ₦600bn across the 155-day and 204-day bills. At the auction, a total of ₦1.07 trillion was allotted out of a ₦1.15 subscription. Stop rate remained unchanged at 24.20% on the 155-day while the 204-day bill declined by 5ps to 24.59%. Sequel to the auction, the 6 Jan OMO bill was seen quoted 23.65/23.56%. At the NTB auction this week, the DMO offered and sold N162.02bn out of a total subscription of N1.23trn. Stop rates on the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day bill declined by 18bps, 15bps and 51bps to close at 17.80%, 18.35% and 18.84%. Furthermore, we’ve seen the newly issued 364 day bill exchange hands at 18.10%. Week-on-week, the average benchmark yield declined by 22bps to 20.36%
We expect a similar session.
FGN Bond Market
The FGN Bonds Market started off the week on a quiet note, albeit bullish with trades consummated on the 33s and 42s at 19.30% and 17.80%. Furthermore, the DMO released the bond offer circular featuring the reopening of the 29s and new 32s in contrast to new issuances of 30s and 32s previously. Market was characterized by a downward trend in yields across as trades were consummated as low as 18.85% on both 31s and 33s. Week-on-week, the average benchmark yield appreciated by 27bps to 18.23%
We expect a calm session as focus shifts to the bond auction.
FGN Eurobond Market
The bulls dominated the FGN Eurobonds Market at the start of the week despite the raging Israel-Iran tensions. As optimism faded over the de-escalation of the Israel-Iran war and Fed comments regarding higher inflation and lower growth concerns, sentiments reversed. On the macro front, the U.S Retail Sales posted the biggest drop in four months, contracting by 0.9% vs a 0.7% contraction forecast. Week-on-week, the average benchmark yield declined by 36bps to 8.65%
We expect the bears to dominate.
Currency Market
The value of the Naira to the dollar declined by 97bps to close at ₦1547.36/$ at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market Window (NFEM).
Equities Market
The local bourse ended the day with the benchmark NGX All-Share Index (ASI) appreciating by 24bps to close at 118,138.20. Market capitalization also increased, closing at ₦73.05 trillion. Market breadth was positive at 1.46x.
Meanwhile, trading activity was robust on the day, as the volume of shares traded decreased by 41.52% to 522.81 million units, while the total value of shares traded decreased by 10.65% to ₦19.68 billion.
Reflecting the week’s performance, the NGX All-Share Index recorded a 0.71% appreciation, as notable gains in ELLAHLAKES (+28.43%), GTCO (+19.65%) and BETAGLAS (+19.43%) were partially offset by declines in NNFM (-17.19%), SUNUASSUR (-12.81%), and VFDGROUP (-11.76%). Overall, the NGX has posted a year-to-date gain of 14.78%. Other notable indices are the NGX Top 30 Index (0.30%; 2.99% 1WK; 14.42% YTD), NGX Banking Index (1.65%; 3.79% 1WK; 16.34% YTD), NGX Oil & Gas Index (-0.16%; 6.25% 1WK; -7.80% YTD), and NGX Insurance Index (-1.07%; 3.57% 1WK; 0.54% YTD).
https://www.digital.zenithbank.com/ZEQ/ZEQ-jan-2026/index.html#p=1
