Today’s trading activity in the Nigerian equities market closed on a positive note as the benchmark index closed up by 0.74% in the first session of the week. The bullish performance was underpinned by gains recorded in MTNN (+10.00%) as investors respond positively to the news that the Federal Government of Nigeria withdrew $2 billion tax demand on the telecommunication giant. Other gainers in the session included UACN (+7.80%), Glaxosmith (+6.60%), UBA (+3.57%), Flourmill (+1.30%) and Oando (+2.60%) finished in the green zone. Points amassed by the advancers sufficiently offset weakness recorded in Cadbury (-9.95%), Presco (-8.17%), Unilever (-5.26%), Seplat (-0.25%), Fbnh (-5.23%), Buacement (-4.88%) and Wapco (-2.60) among others.
Market turnover closed at N8.55bn ($22.39 mln), buoyed by crosses in Seplat ($6.6mln),Access ($1.1 mln) and MTNN ($0.50%). The NSEASI ytd return improved to +10.40%. We expect the market to maintain this trading pattern in the next session.