The equities market opened the week on a negative note (ASI –1.24%) as Dangcem(-4.17%) surrendered a bulk of Friday’s arbitrary gain. Consumer goods stocks were also weak – negative reactions continued to trail the big dilution in Intbrew(-5%), the brewer closed on offer. Flourmills(-2.69%) dropped on capital raising fears; Nascon(-4.97%) and Cadbury(-5.89%) dropped on risk aversion. Investors’ sentiment was mixed in banking stocks – Zenith(-0.31%) and Access(-0.58%) dropped on profit taking while UBA(+0.79%) and Guaranty(+0.50%) advanced on value buying.
Market activities rose at a 5-year high of N127.9bn ($352m), buoyed by a block trade of 549mln Dangote Cement shares valued at N124bn ($341m). The trade involved a domestic seller and foreign buyer; a total of 1.1bln Dangcem shares has now been strategically traded this year, likely raising the float in the cement major to 14.9%. Today’s loss trimmed ytd return to +41.24%, we expect the market to find support in coming sessions.
