By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate

Lagos INVESTADVOCATE)-The  Nigerian equities market on Monday commenced the month of March 2015 on a bullish note gaining 0.54 percent despite losses incurred by blue chip stocks such as Nestle Nigeria Plc, Forte Oil Plc, Guinness Nigeria Plc and Seven-Up Bottling Company Plc, according to a Cordros market update.

At the end of today’s session, the Nigerian Stock Exchange all-share index (NSE ASI) closed at 30,267.18 points, while market capitalisation increased by N54.51billion to close at N10.10 trillion.

With this gain, current market Year-To-Date (Y-t-D) returns closed at a negative 12.67 percent.

Cordros reported that two (2) out of the five (5) NSE Sectoral indices climbed up. “The Banking index once again started the week as the top gainer with a 1.77 percent increase, while Consumer Goods index followed with a gain of 0.68 percent,” the report said.

The report says the Industrial Goods was the only index which remained flat at 0.00 percent, as all the companies in the index basket closed at their previous prices.

On the contrary, the Oil/Gas index emerged top loser with a loss of 0.42 percent while Insurance index followed suit with a 0.35 percent decline.

Market breadth at the Nigerian equities market remained positive; recording 26 gainers and 21 losers.

First Courier Company to receive Worldwide Certification by ISO since 1994, Red Star Express Plc topped the gainers chart with a gain of 0.21 kobo, while leading diversified company, operating in the food and beverages, real estate, paint and logistics sectors UAC of Nigeria Plc emerged top loser with a loss of N2.01.

In terms of turnover, the NSE say volume traded declined by 34.43 percent to 261.82 million shares, valued at N2.98 billion and traded in 3,329 deals.

“The market is likely to close positive tomorrow, albeit with a marginal gain,” the Cordros update affirmed.