Trading activities on the domestic equities market closed on a brighter note as the NGXASI appreciated by +0.21% to settle at 38,667.90 points. Though the positive performance was board based, gains in Oil & gas stocks Total (+9.96%), Oando (+9.97%) and Ardova (+ 6.00%) contributed the most to the upward movement in the index. Also, Guinness (+9.14%), Unilever (+8.75%), Cadbury (+4.65%), Uacn (+3.45%) and Dangsugar (+0.86%) advanced among the consumer goods while Zenithbank (+0.81%), UBA (+0.65%) , GTCO (+0.34%) and Fcmb (+0.33%) edged higher in the banking space. Sentiment improved as market breadth closed in the positive region with 30 advancers and 11 laggards.
Market turnover was meagre at N2.31bln ($5.62mln), though buoyed by trades in Zenithbank and GTCO . The YTD return on the NGX index moderated to -3.98%. We expect the market to maintain a similar trading pattern in the coming session.