Investor buzz around undervalued banking counters led the equities market indicator to consolidate on gains recorded yesterday by 75bps. Cherry picking among locals and offshore participants in Guaranty (+6.89%) set the tone for the upward move; Zenith (+1.83%), FBNH (+3.92%; Access (6.40%) and UBA (3.23%) quickly followed their trailblazing competitor. Surge in Wapco (+10.00%) and JBerger (+9.90%) on retail buying also contributed to the day’s gains. Market breadth was positive as 3 gainers were recorded for every losing stock. Notwithstanding the impressive performance of the lenders, ETI (-4.17%) retreated alongside Flourmills (-2.70%) and a few consumer stocks.
Turnover was decent at N4.7bn ($12.1m) buoyed by mixed interests trades in MTNN and offshore related crosses in Newgold ETF. Ytd return on the index stood at -9.55%. We expect the market to find support at current levels in the next session.
