The Nigerian equities market closed today’s session on a flattish note as the ASI dipped by -0.07%. Though the index pared some of the intra-day losses recorded from sell pressure from sustained weakness in the banks as the likes of Zenith(-1.03%) and Guaranty touched record lows, weak performance on market heavy weight Dangcem(-1.61%),Mobil (-9.71%) and Total (-1.33%) further contributed to the southward movement. Other major laggards included UACN (-6.87%), Okomuoil (-3.31%) and ETI (-2.91%). Meanwhile Oando (+8.22) recovered on thin volumes, while Wapco (+6.00%) , Unilever (+4.23%) and CCNN (+3.57%) ticked up.
Turnover was low at N1.98bn ($5.5m) with crosses in Guaranty ($1.0m), Zenithbank ($1.50m) UBA ($0.58) and FBNH($0.35m) involving mixed interests as the major blocks on the day. Ytd loss on the index has widened to -6.55%. We expect the market to maintain the same trading pattern in the next session.