The equities market index rose by +0.21% due to a partial recovery in Access (+5.26%) alongside late gains in tier 2 banks – UBN (+5.26%), Fidelity (+5.85%) and FCMB (+5.71%). Market sentiment was weak and driven by cautious bargain hunting amidst controlled selling activity among locals which was in contrast to the recent trend. However, a decline in UBA (-2.36%) and Zenith (-0.73%) erased some of the gains in the banks. Consumers rose on gains in Dangsugar (+1.06%) and Cadbury (+5.00%) notwithstanding retreat in flourmill (-1.42%) on its early session cross.
Market turnover rose to N3.5bn ($9.6m), boosted by mixed crosses in FBNH ($0.85m) and Guaranty ($0.64m). Ytd loss on the index shrunk to -5.77% whilst wtd return stood at -4.59%. We expect the market to firm up on first-quarter earnings expectations next week.
