As trading activities for H1 2021 ended today, equities trading on the NGX closed on a positive note with the market index up by +0.70% on the day. Although the session was another relatively quiet one, save for some early crosses in MTNN (+0.61%), late gains in Consumer heavyweight Nestle(+10.00%) however also contributed to the extent of the day’s gain. Other top gainers included Flourmill (+2.75%); Unilever (+2.32%) and ETI (+1.01%) Oando (+9.67%) and Vitafoam (3.01%) and all these easily overshadowed contractions in PZ (-7.08%); Sterlnbank (-3.11%); Intbrew (-0.93%); Access (-0.59%) and GTCO (-0.33%).
Market turnover was N3.23bln ($7.9mln), boosted by block trades in MTNN. The NGXASI posted a negative return of -2.91% in Q2 2021, while YTD return currently stands at 5.87%. We expect the market to maintain a similar trading pattern in the next session as Q3 starts barring fresh catalysts like the approaching Q2 earnings announcement season.