In the global space, Global equity markets hit fresh highs last week, buoyed by Q3-2021 earnings. The USA recorded positive economic growth at an annualized pace, supply chain difficulties were a recurring theme, during earning calls with both Amazon and Apple cutting their growth estimates due to labor and input shortages.
Looking at other markets, the United Kingdom has increased her GDP growth forecast for 2021 by unveiling plans to boost infrastructure spending while lowering corporate tax rates for some industries hit hard by the pandemic
Elsewhere, the real estate sector remained troubled in the past week in China, as Evergrande made a delayed coupon payment, Modern Land, another key player missed coupon payments. The Shanghai Composite Index, China’s major stock market index lost 1.0% w/w.
On the domestic front,
The Nigerian equities market maintained its upward momentum last week, thanks to robust company earnings and bargain-hunting activity across sectors. Looking ahead, we expect sustained bullish performance this week in reaction to the strong earnings turnout and sustained domestic interest in the equity market.
At the fixed income primary market, Investors’ appetite was strong at the short and long end of the curve as the 91-day and 364-day bills were oversubscribed by 1.3x and 3.0x respectively. However, investors’ interest in the medium-tenured bills remained depressed as the 182-day bill was undersubscribed by 0.6x. On the other hand, activities were on a bullish bias in the secondary OMO market as the average yield declined down 7bps from last week’s close. Looking ahead, we expect some mop-up activity following OMO maturities worth N103.8bn due to hit the system this week