By InvestAdvocate

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Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday extended the previous day’s gain, with the all-share index (ASI) climbing 0.46 percent to close at 25,418.08 points.

“Today’s positive performance swung the Month-to-Date return into the green (0.35 percent), while it trimmed the Year-to-Date loss to 5.42 percent, Cordros said in its daily market update.

According to the report, at the close of the trading session on the Nigerian equities market, the Banking and Insurance indices appreciated by 1.78 percent and 0.23 percent each, following gains in the shares of top tier lender, Zenith Bank Plc and insurer, Axa Mansard Insurance Plc both jumped 2.83 percent and 1.27 percent respectively.

Likewise, gains recorded by beer producer, Nigerian Breweries Plc and beverage maker, Cadbury Nigeria Plc  by 2.40 percent and 3.29 percent respectively buoyed the Consumer Goods index by 0.96 percent; while oil marketing majors Forte Oil Plc and Oando Plc appreciated by 2.34 percent and 1.39 percent each to boost the Oil & Gas index by 0.08 percent.

Cordros reports that a selloff in the shares of cement manufacturer and Nigeria’s most capitalised listed company, Dangote Cement Plc resulted in a loss of 0.31 percent to drag the Industrial Goods index lower by 0.31 percent.

At the close of trading on the Nigerian bourse, market breadth maintained a positive outlook, with 18 gainers and 14 losers declared, according to data from the NSE. Paint producer, Portland Paints and Products Nigeria Plc emerged topmost gainer with a gain of 0.08 kobo per share; while softdrink maker, Seven-Up Bottling Company Plc became the topmost loser with a loss of N8.29 per share.

In terms of turnover, total volume traded on the Nigerian equities market increased by 20.18 percent to 280.95 million shares, valued at N2.35 billion, and exchanged in 2,468 deals.

“We expect gains to persist in tomorrow’s session,” Cordros added.