The equities market closed near its year high today buoyed again by upticks in Dangcem. The cement major which accounts for app. 29.5% of the ASI jumped +1.09% still on a mix of steady domestic buying and thin offers. Ex-Dangcem, the ASI was headed for a flattish close with investors’ sentiment split across sectors. Banking stocks such as Zenith(+2.90%) and FBNH(+1.84%) jumped on improved foreign demand; tier IIs also snapped a (2) day losing streak on fresh speculative buying. On the flip side, UBA(-0.39%) and Guaranty(-0.10%) dropped on weak demand. Consumers also traded apart – PZ(+3.13%) and Unilever(+1.50%) advanced on earnings expectation while large caps such as Guinness(-2.56%) Nestle(-1.70%) and NB(-1.63%) dropped on weak demand.
Turnover stayed low at N3.5bn ($9.7m) with the main activities around Zenith($1.6m), FBNH($1.1m) and Access($0.8m). Today’s +0.40% gain lifted weekly return to +1.97%, ytd closed at +16.73%. We expect the market to tick lower next week on some correction in large caps.
