The equities market opened the week on a bearish note as the NSE-ASI lost -0.31% in today’s trading session. 

LAWUNION (+4.92%) was the top gainer, while AIRSERVICE (-4.88%) had the worst performance.  

Market breadth index closed positive as 18 stocks gained against 24 stocks that declined.  

WAPIC was the most actively traded stock with c.650m units of shares worth c.N325m. 

Sector Performance  

·         NSE Banking Index: Lost -0.56% , largely driven by the losses in STANBIC (-4.74%) and ZENITH (-1.04%) 

·         NSE Consumer Goods Index: Down by -0.07% following sell-off in FLOURMILL(-2.86%), UNILEVER (-2.10%) and GUINNESS (-1.96%) 

·         NSE Oil and Gas Index: Advanced +0.10% on the back of the gains in FO (+2.50%). 

·         NSE Industrial Index: Closed today’s trading session flat 

Earnings Release 

·         FCMB Plc. released its Q3 2017 numbers late on Friday, which showed a +67.22% q/q improvement and a 242.72% y/y increase in PBT from a loss position of –N2.13bn in corresponding quarter in 2016 to N3.01bn in Q3 2017. 

Market Insight 

ASI dropped today, losing -0.31% , as investors took profit on last week’s gain. Going forward, we expect the market to be stable in the near term in the absence of any major positive catalyst. However, we remain optimistic on our recommended names and advise entry into them ahead of the release of 2017 audited full year number.

TOP PICKS: ACCESS, DANGCEM, GUARANTY, NB, NESTLE, UBA & ZENITHBANK