RFA Breakfast Paper - November 6, 2026

Banks Park ₦8.31trn at CBN Despite OMO

Banking system liquidity stayed heavy in the week to 6 November. Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) placements rose to ₦8.31trn on Friday, up ₦347.44bn from Thursday and ₦1.35trn from Wednesday, even as the CBN raised ₦724.32bn at a Friday OMO auction. Bids of ₦1.89trn covered the ₦1trn offer 1.89 times, but the Bank allotted only 72.4%, clearing the 179-day bill at a 17.25% stop rate and the 270-day at 16.54%, with true yields near 18.84% on both. Banks' opening balances fell 68.3% over three days to ₦194.10bn as cash moved into the SDF. The allotment was far smaller than the roughly ₦2.95trn taken on 3 November, leaving a large overhang of idle naira. For investors, persistent excess liquidity points to more OMO auctions this week and keeps short-dated yields anchored near 18-19%, while supporting a naira that eased only 0.22% to ₦1,349/$ over the week.

Chip Rebound Lifts S&P 500 0.31%

U.S. equities recovered part of Thursday's AI-led rout on Friday. The S&P 500 rose 0.31% to 7,376.86 and the Nasdaq gained 1.09% to 24,579.43, while the Dow slipped 0.46%. Technology led as semiconductors bounced, but breadth was weak, with only about 37% of S&P 500 stocks higher. October payrolls rose 165,000 against a ~59,000 consensus and unemployment fell to 4.1%, lifting the 10-year yield 2bps to 4.86% and the dollar 0.76%. Prediction markets now price a roughly 78% chance of a December Fed hike. The S&P 500 still fell about 2.7% on the week, its worst since April 2025.

Bank Losses Pull NGX ASI Down 0.33%

The NGX All-Share Index fell 0.33% to 248,877.22 on Friday, extending Thursday's sell-off and trimming market capitalisation by about ₦540bn to ₦161.59trn. Losses in MTN Nigeria (-1.53% to ₦837.00), Zenith Bank (-2.17%), GTCO (-1.80%) and Fidelity Bank (-3.51%) drove the decline, and the Banking Index dropped 0.77% to 2,369.84. Breadth was positive at 29 gainers to 23 losers as mid- and small-caps rose, and insurance stocks rebounded 3.34%. Turnover thinned, with value traded down 63.7% to ₦26.87bn. The ASI lost 2.13% on the week but remains up about 59.9% year to date, leaving blue chips exposed to further profit-taking.