The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cut spot rates on Nigerian Open Market Operation (OMO) bills across standard tenors at Tuesday’s primary market auction.
To mop up excess liquidity in the financial system, the apex bank offered ₦1.00 trillion across three tenors to deposit money banks, retail investors, and foreign portfolio investors.
The offering comprised ₦200 billion in 91-day bills, along with ₦400 billion each in 147-day and 154-day instruments.
Total subscriptions across all three tenors reached ₦5.498 trillion, driven primarily by the 154-day bill, which attracted ₦3.830 trillion on its own. Ultimately, the CBN allotted ₦2.880 trillion in total.
The heavily demanded 154-day paper received an allotment of ₦1.969 trillion, well above its initial ₦400 billion offer.
According to investment firm Herwood Securities Limited, stop rates cleared at 19.59% for the 91-day paper, and 18.99% for both the 147-day and 154-day instruments.
Fixed income analysts noted that OMO yields maintained the downward trajectory established the previous week.
The 1 December paper cleared at 19.90% on 26 August, edged down to 19.85% on 27 August, and fell further to 19.59% at Tuesday’s auction, marking a cumulative 31-basis-point decline in less than a week.
The 26 January paper experienced an even sharper contraction, sliding from 19.32% on 27 August to 18.99%, down by 33 basis points.
In post-auction secondary trading, analysts reported that the 1 December OMO was offered at 18.85%.
The 2 February OMO traded at 18.60%/18.50%, while the 26 January OMO was initially quoted at 18.70%/18.60% before closing at 18.80%/18.65%.
Overall, the trading session highlighted robust investor appetite for OMO bills, contrasting with subdued activity in Nigerian Treasury bills ahead of the midweek primary auction.