The equities market improved on yesterday’s gains by +31bps. Aggressive buying dominated the session early as locals and foreign counterparts sought bargain hunting opportunities, particularly in the banks which were subsequently tapered by increased selling late on. Gains in Nestle (+2.04) alongside banking majors – FBNH (+7.38%), Guaranty (+1.71%), UBA (+4.08%), Access (+5.56%) and Stanbic (+0.21%) offset the lacklustre performance in Dangcem (-2.37%) and Zenith (-0.20%).
Market turnover was impressive at N12.2bn ($33.6m) boosted by offshore crosses in Unilever ($5.1m), Zenith ($7m) whilst Guaranty ($4.7m) and Dangcem ($2.3m) involved mixed interests. Ytd gain on the index is now at +0.32% whilst wtd return is +2.92%. We expect the market trade sideways in the coming session.