The equities market index continued its downward glide for the second consecutive day as the index closed -0.39% lower. Late selling in MTNN (-0.75%) was the biggest influence on the day, trailed by decline in Dangcem (-0.16%) and the brewers – Intbrew (-9.97%) and NB (-0.70%). Nestle (-0.70%) also retreated to cap off an unimpressive performance among the consumers. Market activities levels improved largely due to crosses in Zenith bank which involved local buying and offshore selling. ETI (+2.00%) rose on tiny volumes notwithstanding news surrounding IFC’s proposed sale of its 14% stake in the Pan-African bank. UBA (+1.65%), Access (+0.78%) and Zenith (+0.25%) rose to post a fairly decent performance among the banks though Guaranty (-0.32%) retreated.
Market turnover rose by 257% to close at N11.2bn ($30.9m), dominated by Zenith’s $21.5m crosses. Ytd loss on the index closed at -5.13%. We expect the market to trade sideways.
