FREE

Market extends see-saw pattern, down 21bps

What shaped the market today?

• The Nigerian bourse extended its see-saw trading pattern, closing lower in today’s session (NSE ASI down -21bps) following a bearish performance across most key sectors. In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s press conference which was sparse on economic policy details, global markets traded lower. Notably, Japanese stocks trended southwards on the back of a relatively stronger Yen as the dollar lost strength after Trump’s conference failed to provide a clear direction on proposed fiscal policy measures.
• The Consumer Goods sector (-94bps) extended its losing streak to six consecutive sessions following declines in NASCON (-970bps), PZ (-490bps), VITAFOAM (-466bps) and NESTLE (-235bps). The Oil & Gas sector (-159bps) retreated as FO (-972bps) and CONOIL (-261bps) slipped, whilst the Industrial Goods sector closed flat amidst persistent sell down in CCNN (-236bps). However, the banking sector remained the toast of investors as a host of banking stocks traded higher. Leading the pack were UBA (+489bps), DIAMONBNK (+303bps) and STERLNBANK (+267bps).
• Market breadth turned negative with 14 advances and 24 declines.

What will shape the next trading session?

• Whilst sentiment remains quite positive in the banking stocks space, we believe the persistent weakness in other key sectors could keep the ASI under water at week close.