March 12, 2018/InvestmentOne Report
The Nigerian equities market closed the first trading session of the week in the red, losing 0.26%
Also, market breadth index ended negative with 34 decliners against 19 gainers.
UNIC (+9.52%) was the best performing stock in today’s trading session while REGALINS (-5.71%) was the top loser.
FBNH (-1.30%) was the most actively traded with c. 426million units of shares worth c.N5.3billion.
Sector Performance
NSE Banking Index: Shed 0.90%, largely driven by DIAMONDBNK (-4.87%), UNITYBNK (-4.65%), UBA (-4.65%), UBN (-4.23%) and SKYEBANK (-3.23%)
NSE Consumer Goods Index: Closed down by 0.03%, following the losses in UNILEVER (-2.25%), FLOURMILL (-0.93%) and DANGFLOUR (-0.90%)
NSE Oil & Gas Index: Gained 0.28%, due to the gains in TOTAL (+1.69%).
NSE Oil and Gas Index: Closed flat
Earnings Release
Zenith Bank Plc released its Q4 2017 results today which showed a Profit before tax of N50.91bn; down 15.67% q/q and up 43.50% y/y.
Market Insight
The Nigerian equities market closed down today following the sell-off in the Banking and Consumer Goods names. 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
