
FINANCIAL MARKETS TODAY – 18 September 2026
System Liquidity Liquidity rebounded 40.74% to ₦2.86trn from ₦2.03trn as the tail of the CBN’s ₦3.81trn mid-week repayments fed back with no auction to absorb it, with the OPR and NOFR both steady at 22.00%; direction next week hinges on the size of the next OMO offer against maturities.
Treasury Bills Secondary market rates were near-flat, 91-day easing to 18.10%, 180-day holding at 18.86% and 365-day slipping to 19.77%, with the average up 4bps to 18.85% after ~₦5.46trn of sterilisation earlier in the week.
FGN Bonds Yields were essentially unchanged with the average at 16.58%, the 5-year easing 5bps to 16.70% and the 10-year up to 16.75%, while the 3-year, 7-year and 20-year held flat at 16.65%, 16.83% and 15.10% after the market absorbed the DMO’s ₦1trn offer.
Foreign Exchange The naira was flat, a shade firmer at ₦1,331.20/$ at NAFEM and unchanged at ₦1,390.00/$ in the parallel market, holding the gap at about ₦59, with reserves last reported at $54.69bn.
Nigerian Equities The All-Share Index gained 1.42% to a record 249,804.56 points and market cap a record ₦162.16trn, led by Banking (+2.23%), Insurance (+1.03%) and Industrial Goods (+0.81%), with Consumer Goods (-0.36%) the only faller; MTN Nigeria jumped 9.20% to ₦890.00 on 3.77m shares and breadth was 36 risers to 22 fallers.
Eurobonds Yields were firmer across almost the whole curve after the Fed’s 25bps hike to 3.75%–4.00% on a 12-0 vote, averaging 7.11%, with the 3-year the only improver at 6.08% and the 20-year at 8.14%.
Commodities Gold gained 0.45% to $4,422.97/oz at a weekly high, while Brent crude fell for a third session, down 0.47% to $103.50/bbl as Saudi Arabia moved to restore East-West pipeline capacity.
