By Peter OBIORA Investadvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Nigerian stocks on Monday started the week on a positive note as all-share index (ASI) gained 0.74 percent to close at 35,190.23 points, while market capitalisation increased by N88.67 billion to close at N11.99 trillion.

With today’s gain though lower by 38 basis points (bps), current Year-to-Date (Y-t-D) return at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) stands at 1.54 percent which suggests a continuation of investor improved confidence post Nigeria’s elections, according to Cordros daily market update.

The update affirmed that all of the NSE Sectoral indices gained. “The Banking index recorded the highest gain having increased by 1.88 percent, while the Industrial and Consumer Goods indices followed with 1.66 percent and 0.59 percent gains respectively,” the report added.

Similarly, the Insurance and Oil/Gas indices recorded marginal gains of 0.56 percent and 0.16 percent respectively.

At the close of the session, market breadth maintained a positive outlook; recording 32 gainers and 17 losers. Regional lender, Wema Bank Plc emerged top gainer with a gain of 0.05 kobo, while cement producer, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) led the losers chart with a loss of 0.60 kobo.

In terms of turnover, volume traded at the Nigerian bourse dipped by 78.77 percent to 344.68million shares, valued at N4.65 billion and traded in 4,956 deals.

“We expect the market to extend gain in tomorrow’s session,” the Cordros update affirmed.