The U.S. equities market kept on its winning streak for the third consecutive week as investors rotated out of tech stocks and into blue chips. Major market indexes finished the week higher with the DJIA rising to a record close. Despite the blips in the tech sector, overall earnings season has been terrific so far, boosting the broader market.

On the treasury end, the closely watched U.S. 10-year Treasury Note continued to edge higher in the past week, touching 1.70% this week, before settling at 1.64% at the close of the trading week. Yields have been moving higher as investors now anticipate the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates next year, and as the market anticipates more inflation.

So far, earnings reports are beating forecasts at a high pace, but there have been some misses and significant stock declines, as in the case of Snap and Intel. There are a few important economic reports in the following week, including the third quarter GDP and Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE). The PCE report includes the PCE deflator, the preferred inflation gauge watched by the Federal Reserve.

On the domestic front,

The Nigerian equities market held on to its winning streak as the market returned a 0.78% gain this week. This further improved its year to date return to 3.71%. On a sectoral basis, the banking sector, oil and gas sector and industrial sector closed with wins, save for the consumer goods sector and insurance sector.

On the macroeconomic scene, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), at its October regional meeting, increased its growth forecast for Nigeria to 2.60% (from 2.50% in July) in 2021 and a slightly higher growth rate (2.70%) in 2022. The IMF noted that it expects the growth rate to remain at that level over the medium term, while predicting an overall constrained recovery for Africa.

At the fixed income primary market, a bond auction was conducted during the week. A total of NGN192.76bn was raised across the JAN 2026, APR 2037 AND MAR 2050 notes, with yields of 11.65%, 12.95% and 13.20% each. At the fixed income secondary market, average yield bonds remained flat 10.78%. Average yield on treasury bills, however, declined to 5.17% (from 5.26% the previous week).