FREE

Blue chip stocks drive NSE ASI to mild gain

What shaped the market today?

• The NSE ASI (+5bps) closed marginally higher at mid-week, riding on gains in select blue chips. Global markets continued to trade mixed as upbeat sentiment from positive earnings releases was countered by pessimism surrounding sustained weakness in oil prices since week open following an unexpected build up in U.S. inventory.
• The Banking sector (+67bps) snapped a three-session losing streak following gains in GUARANTY (+136bps), UBA (+83bps) and ACCESS (+76bps). The Oil & Gas sector (+4bps) also eked out mild gains as advances in OANDO (+64bps) was capped by losses in FO (-21bps). Meanwhile, whilst blue chip DANGCEM (+67bps) extended gains, the Industrial Goods sector (-228bps) still closed lower no thanks to losses in WAPCO (-590bps). The Consumer Goods sector (-33bps) also closed lower amidst sustained pressure on HONYFLOUR (-91bps) and NB (-69bps).
• Market breadth remained negative with 12 advances and 16 declines.

What will shape the next trading session?

• As earlier mentioned, today’s marginal gain was majorly driven by advances in market blue chips, specifically GUARANTY and DANGCEM; overall market appetite remains quite low even as market breath remains negative. Consequently, we foresee a possible reversal in the session ahead.