Nigeria’s fixed income market transactions volume soared in six months in value and volume as the total value of instruments sold within the period rose to N19.41 trillion as against N4 trillion recorded in the corresponding period in 2023.
During the period, the CBN sold N8.85 trillion in T/Bills and N6.42 trillion in open market operation while the DMO sold N4.1trillion in FGN bonds, bringing the total value of fixed income Instruments sold in H1 to N19.41trillion. Also, at the FGN bond market, the DMO raises rates to woo investors, for instance, at the monthly bond auctions, the DMO raised N4.11 trillion in bonds in H1 2024 compared to N3.57 trillion in H1 2023, inclusive of non-competitive allotments worth N414.5 billion.
However, experts, at the weekend, argued that the current uptick and elevated yield in fixed instruments, in addition to the macroeconomic challenges would spur apathy in the equities market, impact negatively on corporate earnings and exert sell pressure in the bourse in the second half of the year .
Therefore, he suggested that investors should focus on fixed-income instruments and prioritise money market and bond investments in H2 due to high yields and lower risk compared to equities.