By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday inched up 0.03 percent to close positive, according to Cordros daily market update.

The update says the all-share index (ASI) closed at 23,834.87 basis points while market capitalisation grew by N2.79 billion to N8.20 trillion, consequently reducing the Month and Year-to-Date losses of the index to 0.34 percent and 16.78 percent respectively.

The report affirmed that the Oil & Gas index emerged the top gainer with an increase of 0.95 percent coming on the performance in the shares of first dual listed Nigerian oil and gas upstream firm, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc adding 5.00 percent following a recent court ruling allowing it to acquire a working interest in OMLs 53 and 55 (The Chevron Assets).

The Industrial Goods sector also gained by 0.37 percent following price appreciation in shares of cement producer, Dangote Cement Plc by 0.75 percent.

On the contrary, the Insurance sector declined by 0.80 percent to lead the losers chart following a price depreciation in the shares of insurer, Axa Mansard Insurance Plc by 4.91 percent.

Similarly, the Banking and Consumer Goods sectors dropped 0.72 percent and 0.34 percent respectively and dragged lower by losses posted in the shares of Nigeria’s top tier lender, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc by 2.38 percent and brewer, Nigerian Breweries Plc by 0.50 percent.

At the close of the day’s trading on the Nigerian bourse, market breadth posted a positive outlook, with 22 gainers and 17 losers recorded, according to the NSE’s daily market statistics.

SEPLAT emerged the top gainer with a gain of N10.19 per share; while Drugmaker, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc topped the decliners chart with a loss of N1.28 per share to close the session.

In terms of turnover, total volume traded on the Nigerian equities market increased by 19.56 percent to close at 313.68 million shares, valued at N2.41 billion in 3,451 total deals.

“We expect a slightly negative to marginal upside tomorrow,” the Cordros update affirmed.