Lingering euphoria around the recent release of the Q4 impressive numbers by Zenithbank and expectation from others continued to shape the equities market today. The NSEASI therefore ticked higher today, albeit by a marginal 0.14% to 40,221.30 points. Banking stocks were the notable movers, led by Access (+1.80%); Fidelity (+1.73%); FBNH (+1.37%) and Zenith(+1.15%), though ETI (-3.48%) and FCMB (-2.20%) retreated. Bargain hunting induced gains were also recorded in Dangsugar (+1.11%); WAPCO (+3.48%) and Oando (+10.00%), but the impact of these were trimmed by contractions in Flourmill(-6.94%); Mansard (-1.77%); PZ(-0.93%) and MTNN(-0.06%).
Market turnover was impressive at N7.08bln ($18.5mln) though boosted by trades in Zenithbank and Guaranty mostly by local interests. The YTD loss on the index narrowed to -0.12%. We expect the market to maintain a similar trading pattern in the coming session.
