The equities market opened the week lower dragged mainly by weakness in large caps. Profit taking in Dangcem(-1.40%) and Nestle(-0.42%) and risk aversion in NB(-1.82%) weighed heavily on the bourse. Other notable losers include PZ(-6.81%) which slumped on weaker than expected Q1’18 numbers, there was a read-across to Cadbury(-4.82%). With earnings in mind, attention turned to cheap blue chip stocks such as Zenith(+2.61%) and Lafarge(+2.64%). UBA(+1.74%), Stanbic(+1.29%) and major brewer Guinness(+3.67%) also rose on strong foreign demand.
Trading activities picked up today with foreign investors raising bargain buying; turnover of N5.79bn ($16m) was very close to 3-month daily average. There were notable crosses of 307mln FCMB, 20 mln FBNH, 7mln Stanbic and huge activities in Guaranty. Today’s -0.38% drop cut ytd return to +31.37%, we expect a rebound tomorrow on recoveries in large caps.
