The equities market opened the week on a negative note as the broad index declined by 1.05%. Anxiety persisted on the back of fallen crude oil prices due to the recent outbreak of coronavirus in China. Midday selloff in Nestle (-10.00%) coupled with late retreat in MTNN (-1.71%) had the biggest impact on the day. Other laggards include banking names such as: Guaranty (-0.68%), FBNH (-2.50%), Access (-1.53%) and UBA (-0.65%). On the flip side, gains in Buacement (+1.69%) and Zenith (+0.25%) offset some losses.
Turnover closed at $5.3m buoyed by mixed crosses in MTN ($1.1m), Nestle ($0.5m) and FBNH ($0.4m). Ytd return on the index contracted further to 3.47%. We expect the market to continue in the same trading pattern.
