The benchmark index thus gained 0.70 percent to settle at 32,664.63 points with market capitalization increasing by N83.0 billion to N11.9 trillion, while year-to-date return improved to -14.6 percent.
Activity level was however mixed as volume traded declined 27.9 percent to 173.6 million units while value traded inched 2.8 percent higher to N3.8 billion.
The top traded stocks by volume for the day were GUARANTY (54.8 million units), ZENITH (37.2 million units) and FBNH (11.0 million units) while GUARANTY (N2.0 billion), ZENITH (N0.8 billion) and ETI (N0.2 billion) were the top traded stocks by value.
Performance across sectors was largely bearish as 4 of 5 major indices trended southwards.
The banking index was the worst performing, shedding 0.6 percent on the back of sell offs in ETI (-2.6%), GUARANTY (-0.5%) and ACCESS (-2.5%).
The insurance and consumer goods indices trailed, down 0.3 percent and 0.1 percent respectively due to losses in CONTINSURE (-2.7%), WAPIC (-7.0%), DANGSUGAR (-2.0%) and FLOURMILL (-0.2%).
In the same vein, the oil & gas index declined, down 0.1 percent due to sell pressures in ETERNA (-3.2%).
On the flip side, buying interest in DANGCEM (+3.0%) drove the industrial goods index 1.7 percent higher.
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) improved marginally to 0.6 times, albeit still soft from 0.5 times recorded Wednesday consequent on 13 stocks advancing relative to 22 that declined.
The day’s top performers were LAWUNION (+6.4%), PRESTIGE (+6.1%) and HMARKINS (+3.6%) while VITAFOAM (-10.0%), CILEASIN (-9.7%) and NASCON (-9.4%) led laggards.
In Friday’s (tomorrow) trading session, analysts at Afrinvest say they expect bargain hunting in bellwethers to drive market performance. They however see a bearish outlook for the domestic equities market in the near term.
