The equities market fell for the sixth straight session today as foreign investors intensified selling, forcing most blue chips lower. Banking stocks took a beating, top tier Is such as Guaranty(-5%), Zenith(-4.85%) and UBA(-1.67%) closed on net offer following strong foreign selling. Access(-3.35%) and tier II banks also dropped amid the glut in supply. Investors’ sentiment was mixed in consumer names – Flourmill(-3.37%), Dangsugar(-4.83%) and NB(-2.85%) dipped on risk aversion while PZ(+5.83%), UACN(+4.18%) and Intbrew(+1.69%) jumped on domestic bets. Another last minute gain in Dangcem(+1.99%) helped reduce the extent of today’s loss.
Turnover was decent at N5.1bn buoyed by block trades in Intbrew($3.84m), bottom picking in FBNH($2.2m) and foreign profit taking in Guaranty($2.2m). Today’s -0.90% loss cut ytd gain to +11.75%, we expect the market to drop lower in coming sessions on sustained foreign selling.
