The equities market rallied into the close as the index rose by +1.27%, driven by late buying in select counters, thereby pushing mtd’s performance to +1.80%. Market index was largely negative intra-day on the back of aggressive selling across board. Dangcem (+3.66%) however advanced alongside other blue chips – NB (+4.27%), Nestle (+0.34%), Seplat (+8.02%), FBNH (+5.30%) and Guaranty (0.44%) on last-minute trades. However, Stanbic (-9.95%), UBA (-1.91%) and FO (-9.89%) all declined. Market turnover fell to N3.95bn ($10.8m), boosted by local crosses in NEM ($1.1m) whilst Dangcem ($1.1m) and Zenith ($1.2m) involved mixed interests.
FY-2019 return on the index stood at -17.81% which was reflective of the numerous challenges in the year ranging from: weaker global growth, trade wars between US & China, CBN sanctions on banks due to infractions on MTN’s FX repatriations e.t.c. We expect the market to trade higher in 2019 upon conclusion of the general elections alongside relative stability in crude oil prices, and lasting resolution to trade wars.
