The Nigerian equities market sustained its uptrend as ASI advanced by +1.03% in today’s trading session. 

Market breadth index closed positive as 29 stocks gained against 24 stocks that declined. 

FBNH (+8.23%) topped the gainers’ chart while CAVERTON (-8.77%) was the worst performer. 

The most actively traded stock was MULTIVERSE (-2.70%) with c.87million units of shares worth c.N31m. 

Sector Performance 

·         NSE Banking Index: Performance inched up by +1.31% on the back of the gains in FBNH (+8.23%), UBA (+4.22%), SKYEBANK (+3.64%) and ACCESS (+2.38%). 

·         NSE Industrial Index: Gained +0.89% on account of the gains in CUTIX (+5.00%), WAPCO (+1.96%) and DANGCEM (+0.58%). 

·         NSE Consumer Goods Index: Closed up by +0.83%, largely driven by the buy interest in MAYBAKER (+5.00%), DANGSUGAR (+4.76%), HONYFLOUR (+3.57%) and DANGFLOUR (+2.52%). 

·         NSE Oil and Gas Index: Advanced by +0.01% on account of the rise in  SEPLAT (+0.01%). 

Earnings Release 

Nil 

Market Insight 

The Nigerian bourse recovered part of its previous losses as we saw buy interest across most sectors today. Going forward, we expect the market to trade sideways as investors continue to take positions in this earnings season. Nonetheless, the Nigerian equities market may be affected by the sentiments in the global equities markets in the near term. Despite the sell-off we saw in the market previously, 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