The equities market of the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) extended gains in the second consecutive session of the week as the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 0.18 percent to close at 48,223.86 points.

The market’s strong performance was caused by sustained buying interest in stocks of Guaranty Trust Holding Company(GTCo) Zenith Bank, WAPCO, and Nigerian Breweries.

Specifically, the All-Share Index (ASI) at the close of trading on Thursday rose to 48,223.86 points, representing 0.18 percent when compared to the 48,138.71 points recorded on Wednesday.

Similarly, the overall market capitalization gained N45.91 billion, increasing to N26 trillion from the N25.95 trillion recorded the previous day.

On what will shape the market tomorrow, analysts at GTI Research said, “The equity market maintained its bullish trend with the Oil and Gas sector dominating activities, recording an increase of 1.61 percent gain.

“We expect this positive trend to persist in the coming trading days.”

The market breadth was positive as 29 stocks advanced against nine stocks that declined.

Berger and Eternal Oil recorded the highest price gain of 10 percent to close at N7 and N6.05 per share, respectively.

Oando followed with a gain of 9.9 percent to close at N5.33 per share, while Meyer rose by 9.84 percent to close at N2.12 per share.

Sky Aviation rose by 9.83 percent to close at N6.37 while First City Monument Bank (FCMB) gained 9.76 percent to close at N3.60 per share.

FTCocoa appreciated by 9.68 percent to close at 34k per share.

On the other hand, SCOA led the losers’ chart by 9.77 percent to close at N1.94 per share.

ABC Transport declined by 6.45 percent to close at 29k while Neimeth depreciated by 3.55 percent to close at N1.36 per share.

MayBaker followed with a decline of 2.95 percent to close at N4.27 per share, while AIICO lost 1.45 percent to close at 68k per share.

Transcorp declined 0.99 percent to close at N1 per share, and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) dropped by 0.42 percent to close at N11.95 per share.

Meanwhile, market activity was weak as the volume of stock traded fell by 30 percent to 244.69 million units from 249.56 million units traded the previous day.

Also, the value of stocks traded decreased by 14.81 percent opening at N3.7 billion to closing at N3.15 billion in 4,859 deals as against 4,587 deals recorded on Wednesday.

Custodian Insurance led the volume charts as the top traded stock for the trading session with 38.704 million shares valued at N255.45 million.

Oando followed with 19.488 million shares worth N101.33 million, while Fidelity Bank traded 17.29 million shares valued at N66.86 million.

Nigerian Breweries traded 15.26 million shares valued at N733.01 million, while Transcorp transacted 13.888 million shares worth N14.02 million.