By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Nigerian stocks on Thursday continued its southward movement as all-share index closed the session plunging to 30,420.54 basis points and declined 2.40 percent while market capitalisation dipped by N247.30 billion to close at N10.07 trillion.

With this trend, currentYear-to-Date (YTD) returns at the Nigerian equities market stands at a negative 12.22 percent; sending the decline to five (5) in a row from 31 December 2014 till date.

At the end of the session, sectoral performance at the Nigerian bourse shows that all the five (5) Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) sectoral indices closed on a negative note.

Cordros report affirmed that the Banking index topped the losers’ chart with a 3.54 percent loss, while Oil/Gas and Consumers Goods indices followed with 2.78 percent and 2.36 percent decline respectively. Similarly, the Industrial Goods and Insurance indices lost 0.95 percent and 0.25 percent respectively.

However, the report further affirmed that market breadth improved as 12 gainers and 24 losers were recorded. Agro-allied firm, Livestock Feeds Plc topped the gainers table with a gain of 0.10 kobo. Lender Access Bank Plc emerged top loser with a loss of 0.55 kobo.

In terms of turnover, volume traded at the Nigerian bourse appreciated by 15.42 percent to 454.02 million shares, valued at N4.42 billion and traded in 4,860 deals.

“It is unlikely that the market will appreciate tomorrow,” the Cordros report affirmed.