Polish equity market closed lower on Thursday. The broad market measure, the WIG Index, fell by 0.24%. Sector performance within the WIG Index was mixed. Chemicals (+3.08%) fared the best, while informational technology sector (-0.91%) lagged behind.

The large-cap stocks' measure, the WIG30 Index, dropped by 0.39%. Within the WIG30 Index components, railway freight transport operator PKP CARGO (WSE: PKP) recorded the biggest decline, down 3.47%. It was followed by oil refiner PKN ORLEN (WSE: PKN), which dropped by 2.19% after the company announced worse-than-expected bottom line result for Q1 FY2016 (the company reported net profit of PLN 337 mln (-55% y/y), whereas the analysts forecasted PLN 791 mln). Other major laggards were IT-company ASSECO POLAND (WSE: ACP), bank PKO BP (WSE: PKO), footwear retailer CCC (WSE: CCC) and genco TAURON PE (WSE; TPE), slumping by 1.37%-1.76%. On the other side of the ledger, chemical producer GRUPA AZOTY (WSE: ATT) topped the gainers with a 4.59% advance on the back of the announcement the company proposed to pay out a dividend of PLN 0.84 per share for FY 2015, which implied a dividend yield of 1% based on the yesterday's closing price. Agricultural holding KERNEL (WSE: KER) and oil and gas company PGNIG (WSE: PGN) also delivered solid advances, growing by 3.13% and 3.01% respectively.