Recording the first pull back after three (3) straight gains, equities trading on the floor of The Nigerian Stock Exchange rounded up in the negative territory. As the All Share Index (NSEASI) gave up 16Bpts of its trading points and closed at 32,121.74 from 32,173.66. Safe NSE-Banking and NSE-Insurance indexes that added points, other observed market indices closed below their respective opening points. Week to Date, the lead activities index is up by 93Bpts while the total gained points in the month of March is now 126Bpts. See the index movement table for details.
Value loss by the market capitalization of the listed equities during today’s trading activities was N19.360 billion, same as 16Bpts below the opening value. Meanwhile, trading activities for the day produced 8 ADVANCERS and 20 LAGERS. NSEASI Year to Date gain is now 220Bpts while the Market Capitalization Year to Date gain stood at N257.977 billion same as 220Bpts above the year’s opening value.
The management of Guaranty Trust Bank today unveiled its financial performance indices for the fourth quarter ending December 31st, 2018. The result was a marginal improvement in the Gross Earnings from the previous N419.226 billion to N434.698 billion. Profit for the year grew mildly by 9.96% to stand at N184.639 billion as against N167.912 billion. It had therefore announced a final dividend of N2.45 (2017-N2.40). Qualification date for the said dividend is 8th April, 2019, while payment and AGM date are both 18th April, 2019. As noted in our previous reports, we foresee the market gathering strength from various financial statistics, starting next trading week; thus, we recommended a timely position against the earnings season pick.
As at the time we compiled this report, Brent Crude trades at $66.27/bbl having gain 0.28% to stand above the last close price.
At the interbank rate today, the Naira closed unchanged at N306.90 against the dollar. See below table for BDC rates by four major locations within the country. Meanwhile, the I&E FX Window started from N360.70 traded as high as N362.50 before rounding up at N360.19, having transacted a total of $91.66 million through the day. Please note that, margin between the close and open value is an equivalent of 16Bpts gain. We are of the opinion that the FX-Market will trade within same range tomorrow.
In the money market, the Overnight (O/N) rate closed at 9.75%, same as 0.67% below the previous closing position. Meanwhile, Open Buy-Back (OBB) rate ended at 8.83%, that is, 0.50% below the previous close. We are of the opinion that the money market will maintain this range on the next business day. Safe Trade.
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