The local bourse closed slightly lower today, as the All-Share Index shed 17bps to settle at 105,931.18 points. The decline was primarily driven by a decline in MTNN (-6.07%), which weighed heavily on market sentiment.
Other laggards included International Breweries (-3.19%), PZ Cussons (-3.65%), and FCMB (-2.19%).
Meanwhile, broad-based gains in banking and consumer names helped cushion the impact. Notable gainers included Zenith Bank (+2.91%), UBA (+2.19%), GTCO (+1.19%), AccessCorp (+1.48%), Wema Bank (+5.77%), Nigerian Breweries (+5.93%), Honeywell Flour Mills (+7.26%), UACN (+6.08%), Cadbury (+9.91%), and Eterna (+9.46%).
Market turnover spiked to ₦35.3 billion ($21.9 million), buoyed by a sizable last-minute cross in MTNN, in which the stock accounted for ₦19.7 billion in trades today. Other actively traded names included Fidelity, GTCO, UBA, and AccessCorp. Year-to-date, the ASI is up +2.92%. We anticipate a mixed session in the next trading day, as investors continue to digest earnings while bargain hunting in select banking and consumer stocks may persist, even as profit-taking lingers in some large-cap names.