March 9, 2018/InvestmentOne Update
Similar to yesterday, the Nigerian equities market closed up in today’s trading session, gaining 0.18%, WTD up by 0.68%.
Market breadth index ended positive with 34 stocks gaining against 28 stocks that declined.
LASACO (+10.00%) was the top gainer in todayâs trading session while FTNCOCOA (-5.88%) had the worst performance.
ACCESS (+0.39%) was the most actively traded with c. N1.19billion units of shares worth c.N15.5billion.
Sector Performance
NSE Industrial Index: Gained 1.90%, following the gains in DANGCEM (+1.15%) and WAPCO (+3.52%)
NSE Consumer Goods Index: Closed up by 0.56%, largely driven by NB (+2.37%), DANGFLOUR (+0.91%) and NESTLE (+0.44%)
NSE Banking Index: Shed 0.87%, due to the losses in GUARANTY (-2.65%), FBNH (-2.53%), STANBIC (-1.72%) and ZENITHBANK (-0.32%)
NSE Oil and Gas Index: Declined by 0.17% due to the losses in ETERNA (-4.86%) and FO (-1.79%).
Earnings Release
Nigerian Allied Plc released its Q4 2017 results today which showed a Profit before tax of N1.95bn against a profit before tax of N3.08bn in Q3 2017 and against a profit before tax of c.N930mn in Q4 2016.
Market Insight
The Nigerian equities market closed in the green today supported by the gains in the Industrial and Consumer Goods 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. Nonetheless, we advise entry into our quality names for investors with a medium to longer term horizon.
TOP PICKS: ACCESS, DANGCEM, GUARANTY, NB, NESTLE, UBA & ZENITHBANK
