The NSE ASI closed 0.75% higher on the back of gains in MTNN(+2.74%) following a local cross at of 11m units at N138.70. Other gainers included Zenith Bank (+2.41%) following the release of its Q2 2019 numbers; Stanbic (+3.03%), Guaranty (+1.15%) and Dangcem (+0.30%); Most of these counters made the gainers list on small volumes. Turnover was decent at N4.1bn ($11.5m) following the local cross in MTN ($4.2m) which accounted for c.41% of the day’s turnover . Other notable crosses were in Dangcem Zenithbank with foreign interest and mixed interest in Wapco ; Activities in these four names accounted for c.78% of total turnover.
Most counters traded thinly and Nestle (-2.37%) lost points on small volumes following the 10% it lost on Friday. Nestle barely managed to close at N1,113.9 after trading sub 1,100 for most of the session. UACN recovered some lost grounds predominantly on local buying. Outside crosses; the equities market remains weak and demand depth is very shallow. We expect this lacklustre trend to continue
