Nigerian equities extended the previous day’s gains as the benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 1.06 per cent to close the trading session at 53,151.32 basis points on Thursday.

Renewed demand for index heavyweights MTN Nigeria, Wapco, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), International Breweries and Guinness Nigeria bolstered the market’s performance as their respective shares appreciated by 4.35 per cent, 6.23 per cent, 2.68 per cent, 5.33 per cent and 5.10 per cent.

As a result, the year-to-date return rose to 24.43 per cent, with the market capitalisation increasing by N301.86 billion to close at N28.65 trillion.

Market Capitalisation followed suit the direction of the ASI to stand at N28.654 trillion, representing an increase of 1.06 per cent from the N28.353 trillion it stood at theend of the previous trading session, as investors’ net worth, increased by N301 billion.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive as 24 tickers gained relative to 11 losers. On the performance chart, Champion Breweries and Linkage Assurance having appreciated in value by 9.9 per cent and 9.1 per cent recorded the highest gains of the day, while NPF Microfinance Bank and UACN topped the losers’ list after their respective shares dipped by 9.9 per cent and 9.7 per cent.

Performance across sectors was broadly positive, as the Banking, Consumer Goods, Insurance, and Industrial Goods indices closed in the green having appreciated 1.2 per cent, 0.9 per cent, 0.4 per cent and 0.4 per cent while the Oil & Gas index declined by 0.3 per cent.

Analysis of market activities on Thursday showed that trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions increasing by 20.81 per cent. A total of 266.18 million shares valued at N5.12 billion were exchanged in 5,501 deals.

Transcorp dominated the volume charts as the top traded stock by volume for the trading session on Thursday, followed by Access Corporation, GTCO, Jaiz Bank and Universal Insurance to complete the list of the five most traded stocks by volume.

With regards to the value of traded stocks, MTN Nigeria took the lead in the top five performers, flanked by Seplat Energy, GTCO, Dangote Cement and Access Corporation.

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