The Nigerian equities market closed on a bearish note, with the benchmark index declining by 0.35%, bringing the year-to-date return down to 58.53%.
Market activity softened during the session, as trading volume fell by 36.40% to 718.38 million shares, while total value traded declined by 33.76% to ₦29.45 billion.
Market breadth remained firmly negative, with 24 gainers against 43 losers, highlighting persistent selling pressure across selected counters.
Sectoral performance was broadly negative. The banking sector dominated trading activity, accounting for the highest volume and value traded during the session. Meanwhile, the Industrial Goods sector closed flat while other sectors ended the trading day bearish.
On the performance chart, INTENEGINS and TRANSEXPR led the gainers’ table, while PZ and CWG recorded the steepest losses, topping the laggards’ list.
Fixed Income Market
Today, system liquidity settled at a net negative position of ₦1.59 trillion as OMO repayment strengthened liquidity conditions. This eased funding cost among banks with Overnight Rate falling 7bps, closing at 22.17%, while the Nigerian Overnight Financing Rate (NOFR) and Open Repo Rate remained unchanged at 22.00%.
In the FGN bond market, trading activities were largely muted, continuing the tempered sentiment from the previous session. Average yields remained unchanged at 16.31%.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Treasury Bills market saw a marginal dip in average yield. This is a result of mixed trade of the bills. Notably, bills at the short end of the curve stayed muted while there was sell pressure in the bills with 296 and 310-DTM. Overall, the average yield eased slightly to close at 17.47% from 17.48%.
Elsewhere, Nigeria’s Eurobond market maintained the rally. There was broad buying interest across the bonds. Average yields declined by 5bps to 6.71% from 6.76%.
Currency Market
Today, the naira appreciated against the U.S. dollar, with the USD/NGN pair declining by 0.6% to close at ₦1,367.00.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s external reserves sustained their upward momentum, increasing by a further 0.2% to $49.80 billion as of 1 June 2026.
In the commodities market, Brent crude oil prices retreated by 2.8% to settle at $94.69 per barrel. The decline was largely driven by profit-taking following recent gains and improving market sentiment surrounding potential diplomatic progress in the Middle East. Investors also reacted to reports of weaker crude demand from China.
