The Nigerian equities market commenced the week on a sluggish note, as the ASI retreated by 15bps to close in the negative region. The weak performance was due to cautious sentiment towards risky asset underpinned by absence of positive market catalyst. Sell off in Precso (-9.93%) and profit taking in UACN (-9.49%); coupled with weakness in NB(-1.05%), Oando (-5.00%) and Wapco (-0.66%), dragged the index southwards. Meanwhile, losses in Access (-2.04%), Fbnh (-1.77%), Fidelity (-3.39%) and Guaranty (-0.19%) were offset by gains in Zenithbank (+ 1.60%) and UBA (+ 0.82%) in the banking space. Other gainers include FO(+7.50%), Eterna (+9.09%) and Cadbury (+5.94%).
Market turnover was very meagre at 880mln ($2.4m), boosted by a cross in FO ($0.12 mln) and fragmented trades in Dangcem and NB. Ytd return on the NSEASI dipped further to -12.00%. We expect the market to maintain this trading pattern in the next session.
