The downward trend on the Nigerian equities market came to a halt at the end of today’s session as the ASI appreciated marginally by 5bps. Mixed activities in today’s session as investors sold-off on most banking names perhaps to take position in MTNN ahead of the closure date on dividend payment and addition of the telecommunication giant to the MSCI Frontier Markets Index. Gains in MTNN (+3.27%), CCNN (+3.32%) and Dangsugar (+3.06%) accounted for the upward movement in the broad market index. Meanwhile, market breath close on a negative note with notable names like Guinness (-10.00%) on tiny volumes, Guaranty (-2.89%), Zenithbank (-5.35%) and Access (-3.79%) found culpable.
Turnover improved marginally to N 2.68bn ($7.45mn) and was boosted by crosses in MTNN($0.47mn), Guaranty ($ 0.58mn), and Zenithbank ($0.35mn) with mixed interest. Ytd returns on the index stood at -12.79%. We expect the same trading pattern in the next session.
