The equities market opened the new-year on a flattish note as activities remained slow with most investors yet to fully return from the holidays. Sentiments were split across sectors; following last year’s rally in blue chips, domestic investors placed early bets in tier II banks – FCMB(+6.76%), Fidelity(+4.88%) and Diamond(+4.67%) all closed on bid. Zenith(+1.13%) and Access(+1.44%) also enjoyed decent demand. On the flip side, ETI(-4.29%), Stanbic(-1.45%) and Guaranty(-0.49%) dropped on weak demand. Consumer stocks also traded mixed – Dangsugar(+1.80%) and PZ(+2.67%) jumped on thin liquidity while Unilever(-1.93%) and Cadbury(-0.45%) dropped on risk aversion.
Turnover was low at N1.78bn ($4.9m) with the sole notable trade being a 17mln cross in Zenith between domestic investors. The index gained +0.06% today, we expect the market to tick higher in coming sessions on macro optimism.
