The local bourse ended today’s session on a quiet but slightly positive note, edging up by just 3bps to close at 104,560.02 points, as investors picked their spots in select banking and consumer stocks amid a largely cautious trading environment.
Accesscorp (+3.13%) and Unilever (+9.65%) led the charge, with support from modest gains in UBA (+0.80%), Fidelity (+0.65%), Transcorp (+0.12%), and Nigerian Breweries (+0.31%). On the flip side, GTCO (-1.47%), First HoldCo (-2.40%), Zenith Bank (-0.40%), MTNN (-0.16%) and NGX Group (-8.56%) closed lower. Custodian Investment also traded ex-dividend today for a ₦1.10 payout.
Turnover was relatively strong at ₦10.9 billion ($6.8 million), bolstered by a sizeable early block trade in MTNN (₦2.7 billion). Other key movers included GTCO, Zenith Bank, Access Holdings, Fidelity, and UBA.
Year-to-date, the All-Share Index (ASI) is up +1.59%. With Nigeria’s March inflation figure coming in at 24.23%, investor attention will likely tilt toward macro developments and upcoming earnings disclosures. As such, we expect sentiment to remain cautious, with activity driven by earnings positioning and portfolio rebalancing in the next session.