Bourse snaps seven day losing streak at week close 

17 September 2018 : Bargain hunters supported a 95bps recovery on the equity market at week close. However, this was unable to offset much stronger earlier losses that saw the All-Share Index shed 502bps w/w. Gains on the bourse were supported by the Banking sector (d/d: +279bps; w/w: - 435bps) as last minute buying interest in ZENITHBANK (d/d: +230bps; w/w: -407bps) and GUARANTY (d/d: +546bps; w/w: -71bps) helped trim losses. Also, the Consumer Goods sector (d/d:+56bps; w/w:- 537bps) recovered modestly today as investors took advantage of multi-year low prices in NB (+999bps d/d; -43bps w/w). The Industrial Goods sector (d/d: -46bps; w/w: -755bps) on the other hand continued to trend lower and was the worst performer for the week no thanks to CCNN (- 26% w/w) and DANGCEM (-583bps w/w). Despite closing flat on the day, the Oil & Gas sector lost 167bps w/w following a slump in FO (-17% w/w). 

As market sentiment remains evidently weak and sell-pressure persists on blue-chip stocks across all key sectors, analysts anticipate another bearish start to trading at week open. 

Stock Watch: FLOURMILL shed 11.63% this week, bringing the stock to a 16-month low of N19.00. At a 48% discount from analyst's target price (N36.32) the stock is currently rated BUY. 

Rising yields persist at week close 

The CBN mopped up N104 billion across two OMO auctions during the week amid maturities of N268 billion. As a result, system liquidity remained buoyant at N712 billion and the interbank call rate climbed 34bps to 10.67% at week close. 

The T-bills market traded bearish on Friday as yields advanced 26bps (+166bps w/w) with notable advances on the 174DTM bill (+156bps to 14.01%). Trading in the bond space was more mixed with demand for short-dated bonds matched by sell pressure on longer-dated maturities. In particular, whilst yield on the 14.50% FGN JUL 2021 bond moderated 17bps to 15.33%, the yield on the 12.40% FGN MAR 2036 bond advanced 15bps to 15.48%. Overall, bond yields advanced 17bps w/w. 

Analysts expect the tepid trading activity to continue at week open as market participants anticipate further yield uptick. 

The naira depreciated N0.40 w/w at the I&E FX Window to settle at N363.18 against the dollar while remaining flat at N359.50 in the parallel market. 

Analysts expect the naira to remain stable across the various windows of the currency space as the CBN continues to intervene in the FX market. 

Corporate Disclosures 

The Board of Directors of Ellah Lakes Plc has notified shareholders that the annual general meeting of the company will be held on Thursday 27 September 2018. 

Reporting for EasyKobo on Monday , 17 September 2018 in Lagos, Nigeria

Source: Vetiva Capital Management Limited