Nigerian equities Wednesday extended gains of previous trading session with all-share index appreciating 0.50 percent to close at 36,905.06 points, while year-to-date (YTD) gain improved to 37.3 percent. Similarly, market capitalization increased by N64.3 billion to close at N12.7 trillion. Wednesday’s performance was largely bolstered by gains in NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+4.24%) N167.01 to N171.25, GUINNESS – (+3.32%) from N66.55 to N69.87; the shares of WAPCO gained – (2.75%) from N55 to N57.75; NESTLE Nigeria rallied (1.42%), from N1025 to N1026.42; while FLOURMILL gained from N28 to N29.2 at (1.2%). While NIGERIAN BREWERIES (+4.24%) and GUINNESS (+3.32%) led the gainers chart at Wednesday’s trading session, SEPLAT (-17.9%) led the worst performing streak, followed by MOBIL (-12.35%), TOTAL (-8.5%), OKOMUOIL (-3.8%), PRESCO (-2.45%).

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Likewise, the Insurance index slipped 0.5 percent following price depreciation in CONTINSURE (-4.9%). However, DANGCEM that lifted the preceding (Tuesday) trading session by 7.3 percent lost slightly by 0.01 percent but NESTLE maintained the gain of (1.42%) at the close of Wednesday’s market. Similarly, the Banking index nudged 0.5% higher due to buy interest in ZENITH (+1.4%) and STANBIC (+1.5%). Market breadth remains positive as measured by market breadth (advancers/decliners’ ratio) marginally improved to 1.7x compared to 1.6x recorded Tuesday as 30 stocks advanced against 18 that declined. Analysts expect the positive trend in the market to be sustained in trading sessions while investors await the release of more Half-year 2017 results, particularly from the Tier 1 banks - which are expected to be largely positive.