The Nigeria stock market increased further by 0.02 percent or N8billion on Thursday as investors continued to buy penny stocks.

Topmost on the advancers league at the Nigerian bourse includes Tripple G Plc which for the third time this week has led other gainers.

Its share price moved up from preceding day low of N1.65 to N1.81, up by 16kobo or 9.70percent. It was followed by that of Livingtrust Mortgage Bank which increased from N2.03 to N2.17, up by 14kobo or 6.90percent.

This is even as NGX Group topped the league of laggards after its share price moved down from preceding day’s high of N28.40 to N26.50, down by N1.90 or 6.69percent.

At the close of trading session on Thursday February 16, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and its Market Capitalisation increased from preceding day’s 54,507.66 points and N29.688trillion respectively to 54,520.2 points and N29.696trillion.

The market’s year-to-date (YtD) return has risen to 6.38percent. In 2,670 deals, equities investors exchanged 125,860,855 shares valued at N3.602billion. GTCO, UBA, Zenith Bank, Transcorp and Dangote Cement were top-5 traded stocks on Thursday..