The equities market continued to trend lower as year-end activities of institutional investors skewed towards profit taking dampened prices further. Large cap – Dangcem(-0.65%) was a major drag, the cement major fell to a 5-week low on weak demand. Sentiment in the broader market was mixed, despite decent value buying in top tier Is – Zenith(-0.94%) and Guaranty(-0.25%), both dropped amid a glut in supply. Access(+0.58%) and UBA(+0.39%) however held up following a dry up in offers. Consumer brands – Dangsugar(-4.99%) gave up some of its recent arbitrary gains; Cadbury(-3.60%) and Flourmills(-0.50%) dropped on weak demand. On the flip side, Unilever(+4.45%) bounced off a 1-week low on fresh foreign buying.
Turnover stayed decent at N5.4bn ($14.9m) buoyed by foreign trades in tier I banks – Zenith($4.3m) and Guaranty($4.2m). Today’s loss of -0.46% trimmed ytd gain to +40.59%, we expect the market to tick higher tomorrow on rebounds in blue chips.
