December 14, 2017/InvestmentOne Research

Similar to yesterday, the equities market ended today’s trading session on a bearish note as the NSE-ASI shed -1.56% to close down at 37,950.73pts. 

Market breadth index ended negative as 32 stocks declined against 10 stocks that gained. 

The market’s best performer was SEPLAT (+7.73%) while FLOURMILL (-9.71%) topped the losers’ chart. 

FBNH (-3.41%) was the most actively traded stock with c.40million units of shares worth c.N357m. 

Sector Performance 

·        NSE Banking Index: Down -0.99%, largely driven by the sell-off in ACCESS (-3.77%), UBN (-5.00%), FBNH (-3.41%), and ETI (-2.51%) which more than outweighed the gains in GUARANTY (+0.25%) and FCMB (+3.13%). 

·         NSE Industrial Index: Losses in DANGCEM (-4.12%) and WAPCO (-2.22%)  drove the sector down by -3.08% 

·        NSE Consumer Goods Index: Shed  -0.44%, following the decline in  FLOURMILL (-9.71%) and NB (-0.47%). 

·         NSE Oil and Gas Index: Closed positive +3.76%, on the back of gains in  SEPLAT (+7.73%). 

Earnings Release 

PZ Cussons Plc. released its Q2 2018 numbers earlier today, which showed a +679.92% q/q increase but a -47.67% y/y decline in PBT to N1.05bn.

Market Insight 

The equities market was generally bearish today across most sectors, with the decline in NSE-ASI largely driven by sell-offs in DANGCEM (-4.12%) and some Banking names. Notwithstanding, we maintain that this presents a good entry position in our recommended names. 

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