The Nigerian equities market closed on a positive note as the ASI rose by +1.25% to settle at 34,769.00 points. Positive sentiment was broad based as investors sought for profitable position on the back of recent profit taking on risk assets. Early gains in Dangcem (+2.60) on cross trade as well as positive movement in Wapco ( +3.37%), Airtelafric (+ 1.90%) and Jberger (+ 6.94%) largely contributed to the day’s performance. Also, commercial lenders Fcmb (+9.63%), Fbnh (+4.20%), UBA (+3.66%), Access (+2.40%), Zenithbank (+1.44%), ETI (+1.54%) , Guaranty (+1.17%) together with Flourmill (+9.84%), Dangsugar (+5.90%), PZ (+7.29%), Guinness (+2.86%), ardova (+1.85%) all advanced. Nevertheless, CAP (-2.93%), UBN (-1.69%), Intbrew (-5.76%) and Oando (-6.55%) declined.
Market turnover was N6.91bln ($18.05m), buoyed domestic related cross trade in Dangcem and by mixed interest trades in Guaranty and Zenithbank. The NSEASI ytd return improved to +29.53%. We expect the market to maintain a similar trading pattern in the coming session.
