The Nigerian equities market maintained its upward momentum on Thursday, with investors adding N369 billion to their portfolios at the close of trading.

Market activity showed that a total of 652.86 million shares valued at N39.82 billion were exchanged in 51,101 deals. This represents a decline from Wednesday’s turnover of 1.01 billion shares worth N40.57 billion across 52,723 transactions.

A breakdown of the trading session indicated a 35.17 percent drop in volume, a two percent decrease in value, and a three percent dip in the number of deals.

Despite the reduced trading activity, market capitalization rose by 0.28 percent, increasing from N130.404 trillion at the opening to N130.773 trillion at the close—an addition of N369 billion.

In the same vein, the All-Share Index advanced by 576.27 points, or 0.28 percent, to settle at 203,161.81, compared to 202,585.54 recorded in the previous session. This pushed the year-to-date return higher to 30.56 percent.

However, market breadth closed negative, with 31 decliners outweighing 30 gainers.

LivingTrust Mortgage Bank topped the losers’ chart with a 10 percent drop to close at N4.32 per share. Other notable decliners included RT Briscoe, Tantalizers, Livestock Feeds, and VFD Group.

On the gainers’ side, Trans-Nationwide Express led with a 9.94 percent increase to N3.43 per share. International Energy Insurance followed with a 9.84 percent rise to N3.46, while UPDCredit appreciated by 9.63 percent to close at N7.40.

Guinea Insurance also gained 9.52 percent to settle at N1.15, while Regency Alliance Insurance rose by 9.18 percent to close at N1.07 per share.

In terms of trading volume, Access Corporation recorded the highest activity with 121.70 million shares traded, while Guaranty Trust Holding Company led in value at N8.10 billion.