The Nigerian equities market finished the last trading session of the week in the negative territory as the ASI dipped by -0.94% to settle at 34,250.74 points . Sell pressure in cement manufacturer, Dangcem (-8.04%) as well as weakness in Unilever (-1.15%), Jberger (-4.62%) and Glaxosmith (-2.99%) masked the recovery in the banks, specifically, Fbnh (+8.73%), Access (+3.87%), Zenithbank (+3.18%), Guaranty (+1.70%), UBA (+1.27%) and Fcmb (+1.72%) all advanced. Notable, market breadth closed positive with about three gainers to every laggard, as positive movement in Guinness (+5.92%), UACN (+4.29%), Wapco (+1.48%) and Dangsugar (+0.85%) salvaged some valuable points in the day.
Market turnover was decent N4.46bn ($11.67m) dominated by mixed interest in Zenith. The NSEASI ytd return moderated to +27.60%. We expect the market to maintain a similar trading pattern in the coming session.
