Optimism reigns on the Wall Street
Confident positive reigns on the markets, the Wall Street ended higher the last session after weekly decline as investors focused on rise in jobless claim which can be sign of slower rate hikes in the future. The Dow Jones rose 183.56 points, or 0.55%, to close at 33,781.48; the S&P 500 gained 29.59 points, or 0.75%, to finish at 3,963.51; and the Nasdaq Composite added 123.45 points, or 1.13%, at 11,082.00.
The report follows data last Friday that showed U.S. employers hired more workers than expected in November and increased wages, spurring fears that the Fed might stick to its aggressive stance to tame decades-high inflation.
The US is in process of preparing a fresh round of sanctions on Russia and China for human rights abuses by both countries, while EU is set to boost the size of a fund to finance weapons for Ukraine by at least 2 billion euros as early as next week. Meanwhile, on Thursday Ukrainian forces repelled Russian attacks in the areas of Belogorivka in the Luhansk region and Klishchiivka, Maryinka in the Donetsk region. Russian stock market fluctuated this Friday morning as oil prices remained near an 11-month low and record European imports of LNG helped Europe to reduce its dependence on Russian gas. IMOEX lost 0.22% to 2,179 and RTSI gained 0.44% to 1,101. Gazprom, Sberbank and Lukoil were among the biggest contributors to the decline, while steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel and retailer Detskiy Mir gained. Russian rouble gained for the second day in the row both against US Dollar and Euro offsetting losses after an oil cap was introduced by European countries. USDRUB was down 0.43% to 63.34 and EURRUB was down 0.45% to 65.75. Russian bond yields were slightly higher with a 10-year benchmark rouble bonds yields up 1.5 bps to 10.145. Data wise, Russian Federal Statistics Service will report November inflation data this Friday with is estimated at 0.4% month-on-month and 12.1% year-on-year.
European markets open higher to end a week that has been a boon for risky assets.
The DAX index in Germany traded 0.35% higher at 14,311.3 level, while CAC 40 in France traded flat at 6,652.63 while the FTSE 100 in the U.K. added 0.14% to 7,482.30 points. Next week sees policy-setting meetings by the U.S. Fed and the ECB, and both central banks are expected to hike interest rates once more to tackle inflation still at elevated levels.
SSA continues strong after Thursday’s recovery. Bonds traded firmer even as Brent sank to the year’s low. GHANA (+.875) led the rebound with belly being most bid as market seemingly ignored noises on GHS debt restructuring including a downgrade on the local debt to C from CC by Fitch. ANGOL (+.50) saw most demand on long end while NGERIA (+.375) pushed on despite some late supply on duration.
The NTB secondary market closed on a very positive note as average yields dropped by 290bps across the curve. Average yields across the short, medium & long tier declined by 450bps, 145bos & 320bps respectively. There was significant buying interest in the Jan 2023 bill. There was a primary auction by the CBN with 3 tenors on offer- 91, 182 & 364 days. The auction was heavily oversubscribed with stop rates closing lower from the previous auction.
In the OMO secondary market, average yields closed flat across the curve.
The FGN bonds secondary market closed on a mildly positive note as average yields closed lower by 7bps across the curve. Average yields on the short, medium & long end of the curve dropped by 15bps, 10bps & 2bps respectively. The Jan 2026 bond was the best performer.