The bears dominated the market again as the benchmark index went down by -0.07% to settle at 99,051.01 points. This was majorly due to sustained sell pressure in the banking stocks like Zenithbank (-3.03%), UBA (-4.11%), FBNH (-1.57%), ETI (-1.41%), Fidelity (-1.48%), Wema (-3.57%) and Sterling (-2.20%) as investors continued to trim positions. Consequently, the NGX Banking Index was down by 1.45% today. Transcorp (-1.79%) was also amongst the major laggards. On the reverse side, NB (+10.00%), Presco (+9.99%) and Oando (+9,65 %) were the stars of the day as they managed to salvage some valuable points resulting in the flattish market breadth. Heavy weights; Dangcem and Geregu continued to stay on the side-lines with prices unchanged.
Turnover was decent at N7.7bln ($5.2mln), fueled by block trades in Airtel and Guinness as well as fragmented trades in Seplat. The year-to-date return on the ASI dropped further to 32.47%. We expect a similar trading pattern in the coming session.