The consumers – Nestle (-1.74%) and NB (-0.71%) posted another lacklustre performance for the second consecutive session which in turn led to the pullback of the NSEASI by -13bps. Market sentiments improved among the banks, largely driven by excitement among local participants which was due to the announcement of the completion of Access (+9.24%) merger with Diamond (which was immediately placed on full suspension at the open). Other banks – Zenith (+1.14%), Fidelity (+9.05) and UBA (+1.99%) joined the party whilst Stanbic (-1.67%), ETI (-2.17%), FBNH (-0.61%) and Guaranty (-0.14%) succumbed to selling pressure.
Market turnover fell to N2.2bn ($6.0m), boosted by measly offshore crosses in Guaranty ($0.4m) and Zenith ($0.3m). Ytd loss on the index widened to -1.24%. We expect the market to find support at current levels.
