March 21, 2018/InvestmentOne Research
Bearish sentiments continued to prevail in the Nigerian equities market as the ASI shed 0.46% in today’s trading session.
Similarly, market breadth index ended negative with 19 advancers against 35 stocks that declined.
FIDELITYBK (+7.76%) was the best performing stock today while CADBURY (-9.64%) topped the losers chart for the third consecutive time.
AFRINSURE (-4.00%) was the most actively traded with c. 83million units of shares worth c.N20million.
Sector Performance
NSE Industrial Index: Shed 2.50%, due to the sell-off in WAPCO (-6.55%) and DANGCEM (-0.04%).
NSE Consumer Goods Index: Declined by 0.72%, following the losses in CADBURY (-9.64%), PZ (-4.88%), NESTLE (-2.17%) and NB (-0.94%)
NSE Banking Index: Gained 0.06%, largely driven by the gains in FIDELITYBK (+7.76%), FCMB (+4.74%), UBA (+4.07%) and DIAMONDBNK (+3.87%). NSE Oil & Gas Index: Closed flat.
Earnings Release
Access Bank Plc released its Q4 2017 results today which showed a Profit before tax of N7.2bn; down 65.7% q/q and 66.5% y/y.
Market Insight
The Nigerian equities market closed down today following the sell-off 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
