Dear Afrinvestor,

Market Statistics (Friday, 21^st September, 2012)

Market Cap (N'bn)		8,238.36
Market Cap (US$'bn)		52.22
NSE All-Share Index		25,873.71
Daily Performance %		(0.00)
1 Week Performance %		2.12
YTD Performance %		24.81
Daily Volume (Million)		364.03
Daily Value (N'bn)		2.79
Daily Value (US$'m)		17.67

Dealer’s Perception

·         The NSE All Share Index closed flat today.

·         A surge in demand for Sterling Bank during the session and a clearance of available offers led to a 10.0% spike in its price, closing at N1.54, with unfilled demand at limit up that could fuel further appreciation early next week. Diamond Bank was on the rebound today as it picked up 8.5% to close at N3.59. Institutional purchases at the close of proceedings also firmed up the price of Zenith Bank pulling it back to N16.50, a 3.1% spike from yesterday’s close.

·         The Breweries sector was skewed to the sell side during proceedings. Profit taking trimmed off a further 7.5% from International Breweries, while NB dropped 3.5%, with the current surge in its price spurring selling sentiments. Guinness on the other hand ended the day on the flat note.

·         The building Materials sector was upbeat, bullish sentiments drove up the prices of Ashaka Cement, CCNN, closing with price appreciation of 5.0% and 4.9%. Closing sentiments also suggests that this trend could continue early next week.

Weekly Trading Summary

·         The NSE All-Share index gained 212bps this week.

·         Union Bank continued to lead the gainers chart in the banking sector; insatiable appetite for the stock has sustained the rally in spite of pockets of profit taking during the week it subsequently recorded a 27.2% cumulative gain at the close of the week. Mid-tier banks that were rolled out as part of the start of market making were also top favourites this week with Sterling Bank, Diamond Bank and FCMB booking cumulative gains of 12.4%, 9.8% and 9.7% this week.

·         The food and beverages sector was upbeat this week, speculative activities and increasing demand for UTC led to a 17.5% mark-up. The bullish run on Dangote Flour and Cadbury late in the week also erased previous losses, with both closing the week at N7.71 and N22.63 a 11.7% and 5.6% appreciation respectively.

·         Transcorp led the gainers this week in the conglomerates sector, as it recorded a 13.5% appreciation; however the rally also spurred profit –taking on Friday, with possible further correction early next week. UACN, Unilever and PZ Cussons also recorded gains of 10.8%, 2.7% and 0.6% respectively this week.

Company Announcement

·         Nigerian Bank Manufacturing Company Plc released its Q1 2012 results.

·         Oasis Insurance Plc released its H1 2012 results.

ABC Transport Plc released its H1 2012 results