FREE

NSE ASI kicks off the week on flat note

What shaped the market today?

• The Nigerian bourse added modest points at week open after a last minute surge in heavyweight NB lifted the NSE ASI 3bps above the flat line. Meanwhile, global markets traded mostly lower as investors reacted to protectionist trade remarks by new U.S. President – Donald Trump during his inaugural address.
• Following a rebound in OANDO (+394bps) and TOTAL (+214bps), the Oil & Gas sector (+14bps) traded higher in today’s session, paring previous session’s loss. Also, the Consumer Goods sector (+4bps) shrugged off losses in HONYFLOUR (-484bps), NESTLE (-336bps) and CADBURY (-142bps) to close mildly higher, thanks to gains in GUINNESS (+224bps) and NB (+172bps). Whilst the Banking Sector (-3bps) finally settled marginally lower after mixed performances in WEMABANK (+392bps), DIAMONDBNK (+385bps), ZENITHBANK (-31bps) and GUARANTY (-25bps), the Industrial Goods remained relatively unchanged with CUTIX (+440bps) extending its winning streak to four consecutive sessions.
• Market breadth remained positive with 19 advances and 16 declines.

What will shape the next trading session?

• Despite the positive market breadth, we highlight that the market would have closed lower save for late gains in NB, as most of the gainers were small cap stocks. That said, we believe the market could swing back to the red in the next session as a number of large cap stocks remain pressured.