The equities market declined by -26bps to start the week on a negative note. The market appeared to have lost its steam from last week’s rally due to weaker sentiments which resulted to cautious bargain hunting. Oil & Gas major, Seplat (-3.70%) retreated alongside the banks – UBA (-4.55%), Guaranty (-0.72%), Access (-2.31%) and FBNH (-0.65%) though Zenith (+1.96%) joined the few gainers on the day.
Market turnover was unimpressive at N1.8bn ($5.1m) buoyed by offshore crosses in Guaranty ($0.3m) and Zenith ($0.2m). Ytd return on the index widened to -0.27%. We expect the market to trade sideways in the next session.