The Nigerian equities market began the week on a quiet note, as the ASI plummeted by 45bps to close in the negative region. Loses in Seplat (-6.85%) on tiny cross coupled with weakness on consumer goods heavy weight Nestle (-2.03%) and NB (-0.70%) contributed the most to the southward movement recorded in the equities market. Other laggards in today’s activity includes Cadbury (-5.74%), Dangcem (-0.07%), Wapco (-1.54%) and Oando (-2.70%). More sell pressure in the banking names as Stanbic (-2.50%), Fidelity (-2.40%), UBA (-1.63%) and Access (-1.39%) closed underwater. Despite the lull in the equities market, breadth closed positive with notable gainers including UACN (+8.40%), CCNN (+2.70%), Dangflour (+0.45%) and Guaranty (+0.19%) at the close of today’s session.
Market turnover was meager at N1.5bn ($4.1m), boosted by off shore interest in Nestle ($1.2mln) and fragmented trade in Dangcem, and Guaranty. The NSEASI ytd return dipped further to -14.52%. We expect the market to maintain this trading pattern in the next session.
