Gains in heavy weight AIRTELAFRI (+3.83%) propelled the ASI (+0.46%) to close at 43,308.29 points. Also, Ardova (+3.03%), UBN (+1.05%), STERLNBANK (+0.68%) and GUINNESS (+0.27%) contributed to the day’s performance. Nevertheless, sentiment remain weak as market breadth closed in the negative territories with 23 laggards and 18 advancers. Notable among the laggards were NB (-3.13%), Intbrew (-2.91%), Vitafoam (-1.83%), Flourmill (-1.67%), NGXGROUP (-1.21%), Access (-1.10%), CAP (-1.03%),UBA (-0.61%) and Zenithbank (-0.41%).
Turnover improved to N3.57b ($8.67m) though boosted by trades in GTCO, Nestle, Airtelafri and Zenithbank. The YTD return on the NGX index improved to +7.54%. We expect the market to maintain a similarly trading pattern in the coming session.
