September 27, 2017/InvestmentOne Research

Nigerian equities gained +0.44%

Market breadth index also ended positive as 24 stocks closed positive, compared with 23 stocks that ended negative.

CHAMPION (8.14%) was the best performer against MORISON (-8.33%), which led the losers’ chart.

JAIZBANK (+4.29%) was the most actively traded stock with c.36m units of stocks while NESTLE (+0.39%) topped the value chart with N201m worth of stocks traded.

Sector Performance  

·         NSE Banking Index: Closed negative (-0.19%) driven by GUARANTY (-1.01%), UBA (-1.62%) and FBNH (-2.32%), which cancelled out the gains in ZENITHBANK (+1.76%).

·         NSE Consumer Goods Index: Continued sell pressure on NB (-0.90%) and the declines in HONYFLOUR (-1.96%) more than outweighed the gains in NESTLE (+0.39%) pushing the sector down -0.21%.

·         NSE Industrial Index: Only index to end positive (+0.79%) due to the gains in DANGCEM (+1.94%).

·         NSE Oil & Gas Index: Worst performer as the declines in OANDO (-1.50%) and MOBIL (-1.18%) led the sector down -0.33%.

Earnings Release

NIL

Market Insight

Despite the positive close to the market, largely driven by the gains DANGCEM, turnover was less than inspiring with investors exchanging just N1.27bn worth of shares today. With this said, while the ASI has traded sideways in the past few weeks, we believe the direction going forward may be influenced by investors positioning ahead of Q3 2017 earnings season. Nonetheless, we are of the view that the recent sell-off represents an entry opportunity in our recommended quality names.

TOP PICKS: ACCESS, DANGCEM, GUARANTY, NB, NESTLE, UBA & ZENITH BANK