Market/Economic Insight: The weekly brief (July 30 – August 3 2018)

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The performance of the Nigerian Equity Market returned bearish last week with the index (NSE ASI) down by WTD to close at an 0.37% index level of 36,499.67 while market capitalization rose by to 0.32% close at N13.32 trillion.

The increase in Market Cap. can be attributed to listing by way of introduction of 1.612 billion shares of Notore Chemical Industries Plc at a market price of N62.50 per share during the week.

The sectoral performance was negative as bearish sentiments were witnessed in all sectors with the exception of Banking and Oil & Gas index that rose by respectively. The Consumer Goods 0.83% 6.76% and sector recorded the highest decline amongst NSE indices with the NSE Consumer Goods Index down by WTD, owing to significant price 1.01% depreciation in INTBREW (-17.57%) and DANGSUGAR (-3.03%).

The market activities were characterised by profit taking on 3 out of 5 trading sessions last week despite good earnings scorecard of some companies that released their financials during the week.

In the global space, equities market witnessed a mixed sentiment last week as China CSI 300 fell by 5.68% to lose its position as second largest stock market while NASDAQ grew by 0.96% as Apple (AAPL) reached its $1 trillion Market Cap. during the week.