The local bourse ended its 5-day winning streak, starting the month with 18bps decline to close at 99,118.86 points. This decline was driven by sell pressure in banking stocks, including FBNH (-4.69%), UBA (-1.35%), Access (-0.29%), and Fidelity (-0.49%). Other notable losers were Transcorp (-3.88%), Wapco (-2.37%), and NB (-1.89%). Seplat was marked down for a dividend of N44.50, with a reference price of 3365.50 which also contributed to today’s losses.
On the positive side, Oando (+9.75%), Custodian (+7.89%), and Ucap (+3.24%) provided some relief. Major index heavyweights such as Dangote Cement, Geregu, Julius Berger, BUA Foods, BUA Cement, and Airtel remained flat.
Turnover was robust at N5.2 billion ($3.5 million), bolstered by block trades in GTCO and fragmented trades in Access. The year-to-date return on the ASI slightly decreased to 32.63%. We anticipate a similar trading pattern in the next session.