The nation’s equities market sustained its gaining streak as the All Share Index advanced by 1.01 percent to settle at 27,426.64 basis points while the market capitalization increased from N13.210tn to N13.351tn.
The year-to-date loss further eased to –12.7 percent.
Activity level waned as volume and value traded fell by 45.5 percent and 41.1 percent to 115.422 million units and N854.287m, respectively.
The top traded stocks by volume were Access Bank Plc (17 million units), Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (14.7 million units) and Union Bank Nigeria Plc (10.1 million units) while Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (N198.8m), Access Bank (N119.3m) and Zenith Bank Plc (N104.5m) were the top traded stocks by value.
Performance across sectors was largely bullish as five indices recorded positive performance.
The consumer goods index led gainers, up by 3.8 percent due to buying an interest in Nestlé Nigeria Plc and Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc.
The banking index trailed, up by 1.7 percent following major price appreciation in GBT and Zenith Bank.
The industrial goods and insurance indices rose by 1.1 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively on the back of gains in Lafarge Africa Plc, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc, AIICO Insurance Plc, and Cornerstone Insurance Plc.
The oil and gas index inched higher by 0.5 percent as investors took a position in Forte Oil Plc.
Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), strengthened to 3.1x from 1.5x on Wednesday as 22 stocks advanced against seven losers.
The top five performers were AIICO Insurance, Forte Oil, UACN Property Development Company Plc, Dangote Sugar and Chams Plc, as their respective share prices gained 9.84 percent, 9.64 percent, 9.60 percent, 9.41 percent, and 8.33 percent.
The top five losers were Jaiz Bank Plc, NPF Microfinance Bank Plc, Unity Bank Plc, Lasaco Assurance Plc, and Nascon Allied Industries Plc, whose respective share prices declined by five percent, 4.31 percent, 4.29 percent, 3.45 percent and 2.31 percent.
Analysts at Afrinvest Securities Limited said though the increased buying interest across board spurred the market in the positive direction, they expected profit-taking activities to drag market performance at the close of the week.
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