Today’s session was generally quiet, albeit ended on a positive note as trading activities resumed for the new month. The index posted a modest +0.14% uptick thanks to gains in select Banking counters-UBA(+5.98%) on post interim dividend announcement; Zenith(+2.03%) on late sporadic demand; and mostly crosses in consumer majors Nestle(+5.94%), Unilever (+3.33%); Flourmill(1.48%) and NB (+0.69%). These effectively muted the pullbacks in large caps Dangcem(-1.23%) and MTNN (-1.77%) alongside UACN(-10.00%) and Dangsugar(-5.56%), FBNH(-1.05%) and Guaranty(-0.55%).
Market turnover was low at N1.6bn ($4.3m), as the labour day holiday in the US also took a toll. Block trades were few, with notables ones including some in NB($0.61m) and Zenith($0.3m) by offshore interests. The Ytd loss on the index contracted to -12.30%. We expect the market to maintain the sideways performance in the coming session.
