Global Market Updates:
Historic Week in the US Stock Markets
The previous week saw the market continue big trading day swings, with the S&P recording the highest daily gain since 2008. On a week-on-week basis, the NASDAQ surged by +7.3%, and the S&P 500 & Dow added 5.7% and 5.0%, respectively.
These gains were underpinned by the 90-day tariff pause to most of the US trading partners except for China, which was increased to 145%. China equally retaliated with an increase from 85% to 125%.
US Inflation Cools
In another positive development, the Core CPI (a measure of inflation reading that excludes food and energy) eased to 2.8% in March 2025, a slowdown from the 3.1% in February and below the market expectation of 3%..
10 Year Bond Spike
Prices of U.S. government bonds dropped, sending yields sharply higher, as volatility rippled across the fixed-income market and fuelled anxiety that spilled into other asset classes. The yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond rose from around 4.00% at the close of the previous week to 4.47% on Friday.
Bond prices and yield have inverse relationship. That is, when the price of bond goes up, the yield comes down.
Domestic Market Updates
Nigerian Stock Market
The Nigeria Stock exchange traded on a bearish note, with the All-Share Index (ASI) declining by 0.9% week-on-week. Early-week sentiment was dampened by global uncertainties stemming from Trump’s tariff announcement. Selling pressure in ACCESSCORP (-9.71%), TRANSCORP (-8.39%), MTN (-4.08%) overweighed the buying interest to put year-to-date return at +1.59%.
Nigerian Bonds
The local bonds market remained largely subdued throughout the week as cautious sentiment prevailed. Trading activity was thin, with limited interest focused on select papers such as Feb 2031, May 2033, and Jun 2053. Mid-week sessions saw slight demand for Mar 2027 and Jan 2035 papers, but volumes remained low overall. The average mid-yield rose by 38bps week-on-week, closing at 18.86%.
Treasury Bills
The Treasury Bills market witnessed mixed sentiments over the week, with early bearish pressure driven by foreign portfolio investors offloading their holdings as they reallocated to US Dollars. Activity slowed ahead of the NTB auction that recorded strong demand with ₦1.126 trillion in subscriptions against an ₦800 billion offer, but only ₦424.58 billion was allotted. The stop rates rose 50 bps and 100 bps to 18.50% and 19.50% for 90 and 180 days respectively, while the 364-day held steady at 19.63%.
Foreign Exchange
The Naira depreciated further in the week amid persistent demand pressures and limited foreign exchange supply. The Naira weakened by 2.35% week-on-week, closing at $/₦1,603.78.
What To do
We expect the sell-off in risky assets to continue as uncertainty persist. However, we believe diversification, across currency and asset classes, remains the best risk optimization strategy. On this note, we encourage investors to be well positioned by building their cash holdings to take advantage of the attractive opportunities we expect during this time.
The AXA Mansard Money Market Fund & AXA Mansard Dollar Bond fund will help you earn income on your cash holdings whilst providing liquidity to take advantage of the anticipated increase in interest rates – NGN and USD.
