Gains recorded by MRS, MCNichols and others lifted the stock market by N180bn at the close of trading on the floor of the Nigerian equity market on Thursday.

This bullish trend extended the gains recorded by stock investors after the dip experienced on Tuesday.

As a result, the market capitalisation closed stronger at N29.768 trillion higher than N29.588tn recorded on Wednesday.

The All Share Index rose by 330.85 points to close at 54,646.38.

As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was on the upswing as 28 stocks advanced and 11 others declined.

Geregu recorded the highest price gain of N8.60 to close at N255 per share. This was followed by Bua Foods which gained N6.60 to close at N81 per share and MRS gained N2.60 to close trading at N27.80.

On the other hand, FG 152028S1 led the losers’ log as it lost N0.84 to close at N99.96, while Neimeth followed with a decline of N0.10 to close at N1.45 per share.

The total volume increased by 12,122,316 million units, valued at N1.846 bn, and exchanged in 2,651 deals.

Transactions in the shares of UBA topped the activity chart with 32,420,346 million shares valued at N272,123,839.50.

Courtville followed with 15,975,803 million shares worth #7,638,644.95, while Zenith Bank traded 11,525,976 million shares valued at N292,131,427.40.