February 4, 2018/InvestmentOne Report

The Nigerian equities market sustained its uptrends today as NSE-ASI gained +0.40%. Similarly, WTD performance was up by +1.98%. 

In the same vein, market breadth index, a gauge for investor sentiment, closed positive (+0.04x) as 30 stocks gained against 26 stocks that declined. 

PRESTIGE (+9.09%) was the best performing stock while LASACO (-5.26%) had the worst performance. 

FCMB (+1.67%) was the most actively traded stocks with c.86million units of shares worth c.N262m. 

Sector Performance  

·         NSE Banking Index: Closed up by  +1.10%  following the gains in STERLNBANK (+7.58%), UBN (+4.32%),  ZENITHBANK (+2.90%), FBNH (+1.84%) and ACCESS (+0.79%). 

·         NSE Industrial Index: Gained +0.30% largely driven by DANGCEM (+1.09%) and CCNN (+4.84%). 

·         NSE Consumer Goods Index: Sell-off in GUINNESS (-2.65%), NESTLE (-1.70%), NB (-1.63%) and HONYFLOUR (-0.99%) drove the sector down by -0.90%. 

·         NSE Oil and Gas Index: Shed -0.68% on the back of the loss in  FO (-4.91%). 

Earnings Release 

Nil 

Market Insight 

The Nigeria equities closed up today, largely driven by the gains in BANKING sector and DANGCEM which more than offset the losses across most sectors. In the near term, we expect the market to trade sideways even as investors continue to take positions in this earnings season. While we highlight the potential for profit taking given the recent gain, we believe this may present entry opportunities into our quality names for investors with a medium to longer term horizon.  

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