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NSE ASI starts Q4 on a negative note

​What shaped the market today?

• Coming from a one-session break amidst national holiday, the Nigerian stock market kicked off the fourth quarter of 2016 on a slightly negative note, down 18bps following mixed closes across weighty sectors. On the global front, European markets advanced amidst turnaround in Germany's Deutsche Bank (slumped to record low last Friday) and a rally across British exporters after updates on UK’s withdrawal from the European Union pulled the Pound to a three-decade low. Asian stocks also advanced as a weakening Yen supported investor appeal for stocks of exporters. US markets opened mixed.
  
  
• Having led market advances in the previous session, the Consumer Goods sector (-166bps) swung to the negative no thanks to losses in FLOURMILL (-374bps) and NB (-277bps). The Financial Services sector (+140bps) reversed the previous position, closing today in the green on the back of turnarounds in Tier 1 names - GUARANTY (+412bps) and ZENITHBANK (+237bps). The Oil & Gas sector stretched gains (+13bps) as advances in OANDO (+130bps) outweighed losses in CONOIL (-831bps). The Industrials Goods sector closed flat.
  
  
• Market breadth remained negative with 10 advances and 19 declines.

What will shape the next trading session?

• We observe a handful of mid-to-large caps split across the bid and offer carts at the close of the session. This could yield further mixed performances across key sectors in the session ahead.