The domestic bourse slipped marginally today as the benchmark index closed 0.15% weaker at 98,128.00 points. Stanbic(-8.77%) was the major drag on the index reversing gains from yesterday. Other key losers were Fidelity (-9.72%), Transcorp (-3.29%) and NB (-2.45%). On the flip side, Oando (+9.77%), FBNH (+1.11%), UBA (+0.96%), Zenith (+0.30%) and Access (+0.29%) helped salvage some valuable points resulting in a positive market breadth of 45 gainers against 37 losers. Elsewhere, heavy weights; Dangcem, Geregu, Airtel, BUACem and BUAFoods closed flat.
Turnover was N4.9bln ($3.3mln), mostly boosted by block trades in Guinness involving mixed interests; GTCO involving offshore interest as well as trades in Access. The year-to-date value of the index has fallen slightly to +32.67%. We expect the market to trade near or at current levels in the upcoming session.