A quiet day in the equities market as the NSEASI declined by -22bps notwithstanding the earnings released by banking majors, Guaranty and Stanbic. NB (-2.31%) declined on its markdown for dividend payment alongside retraction in Dangcem (-0.76%) which was largely responsible for the lacklustre performance of the market index. Also, investor apathy in Guaranty (-0.79%) and Access (-1.64%) contributed to the misery. However, assured participation in Stanbic (+3.00), ETI, (2.19%), Zenith (+0.41%) and UBA (+0.65%) cushioned the effect of the losses recorded in other bellwethers.
Offshore crosses in Zenith ($0.7m) and Guaranty ($0.5m) accounted for block trades during the session as market turnover remained flat at N2.7bn ($7.6m). Ytd gain on the index contracted to +1.97%. We expect the market to maintain the same trading pattern.
