By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Nigerian stocks on Tuesday climbed up as all-share index (ASI) gained 0.27 percent to close at 29,859.06 points, while market capitalisation appreciated by N26.61 billion to N9.95 trillion.

With this gain, current Year-to-Date returns at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) stands at a negative 13.84 percent to 23 points.

To record the appreciation in the review period, the Nigerian bourse saw a significant demand in the Agricultural sector as well as marginal price gains in the shares of blue chips like cement manufacturer, Dangote Cement Plc, beer maker Nigerian Breweries Plc, lender Zenith Bank Plc and first listed Nigerian oil and gas upstream firm, SeplatPetroleum Development Company.

According to a Cordros market update, three (3) out of the five (5) NSE sectoral indices recorded gains. “The Industrial index topped the gainers’ chart with a 0.47 percent addition, the Banking index followed with a 0.37 percent increase, while the Insurance index also rose by 0.27 percent,” the report said.

On the contrary, the Insurance and Oil/Gas indices went down by 1.61 percent and 1.38 percent respectively.

In terms of market breadth at the Nigerian equities market, it was negative as 25 gainers and 28 losers were recorded. Okomu Oil Plc emerged top gainer with a gain of N1.32; while petroleum marketer, MRS Oil Nigeria Plc led the losers chart with loss of N2.66.

The Cordros update says traders were more active today given that volume traded increased by 77.44 percent to 468.18 million shares, valued at 4.68 billion and traded in 4,346 deals.

“We maintain a positive outlook as the gains seen in blue-chips today could continue in tomorrow’s session,” the Cordros report affirmed.