Polish equity market closed slightly higher on Thursday. The broad market measure, the WIG index, added 1.25%.Sector performance within the WIG Index was mixed. Banking sector (+4.06%) was the strongest group, while materials (-1.74%) lagged behind.

The large-cap benchmark, the WIG30 Index, surged by 1.51%. In the index basket, oil and gas producer PGNIG (WSE: PGN) was the strongest performer, advancing 6.62% on news that the company plans to build a pipeline between Poland and Norway by 2022 to reduce its dependence on Russia. Other major gainers were banking sector names ING BSK (WSE: ING), BZ WBK (WSE: BZW), MBANK (WSE: MBK), HANDLOWY (WSE: BHW), PEKAO (WSE: PEO) and PKO BP (WSE: PKO), gaining 3.15%-5.99% on expectations that a presidential draft bill on converting Swiss franc-denominated mortgages could be watered down. Elsewhere, FMCG wholesaler EUROCASH (WSE: EUR) rose by 4.79% on analyst upgrade. On the other side of the ledger, thermal coal miner BOGDANKA (WSE: LWB) recorded the biggest drop, down 4.13%. It was followed by oil refiner PKN ORLEN (WSE: PKN), declining 2.41% after the company reported a PLN 81 net loss in Q4 FY 2015, which came below analysts' expectations due to bigger-than-expected asset impairment charges amid falling oil prices.