February 28, 2018/InvestmentOne Research

The Nigerian equities market was bullish today as ASI advanced by +2.44%. 

Also, market breadth index ended positive with 31 gainers against 23 losers.  

The market best performer was CCNN (+8.52%) while COURTVILLE (-6.90%) had the worst performance. 

FCMB (-0.78%) led the market in terms of volume with c.192million units of shares worth c.N483million. 

Sector Performance  

·         NSE Industrial Index: Gained +4.15% following the buy interest in CCNN (+8.52%), DANGCEM (+4.98%) and WAPCO (+3.80%). 

·         NSE Consumer Goods Index: Closed up +2.45% due to the gains in UNILEVER (+4.92%), NB (+4.46%) and NESTLE (+3.00%). 

·         NSE Banking Index: Advanced by +0.78%, largely driven by the gains in STANBIC (+3.26%), ZENITHBANK (+1.75%) and UBA (+1.60%). 

·         NSE Oil and Gas Index: Gained +0.22% on the back of the advancement in SEPLAT (+0.40%) and FO (+0.22%). 

Earnings Release 

·         Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc released its Q4 2017 results today which showed a Profit before tax of N14.21bn against a profit before tax of N7.33bn in Q3 2017and against a loss before tax of -N25.95bn in Q4 2016.   

Market Insight 

The Nigerian equities market closed up today following the bullish sentiments across all sectors. In the absence of any catalyst, we expect the market to remain volatile in the near term as investors continue to take positions in this earnings season. Despite the sell-off we saw in the market recently, 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