Risk-Off Mood: NGX Index Drops, Investors Lose N262 Billion
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) fell 16 basis points on Friday as risk-off sentiment dampened the October open, with 26 companies in the red.
The local bourse closed the week in bearish territory, as key market performance indicators fell by 0.16% ahead of third-quarter 2026 earnings releases.
The Nigerian bourse retreated further in the new month over sustained profit-taking in mid-cap and blue-chip stocks across key market sectors.
FCMB, UNILEVER, NGXGROUP, and FIRSTHOLDCO are among decliners on Friday, dragging the market index down by 403.40 basis points to close at 250,808.27. As a result, the Nigerian stock market capitalisation fell by ₦261.92 billion to ₦162.84 trillion.
Stockbrokers reported that total volume and the total value of all shares traded declined by 46.03% and 48.34%, respectively. Today, approximately 557.15 million units, valued at ₦27,572.50 million, were traded in 53,450 deals.
ACCESSCORP topped the volume driver, accounting for 33.20% of all shares traded on the local bourse, followed by ETRANZACT (7.44%), CMFC (6.97%), FIDELITYBK (5.02%), and CHAMS (4By5%).
On value traded, ACCESSCORP accounted for 21.the total traded, making it the most traded on the exchange. TRANSEXPR and AIICO led the gainers chart, up by +10% each, followed by LIVESTOCK (+9.88%), LIVINGTRUST (+9.87%), ABCTRANS (+9.63%), UPL (+9.57%), FIDELITYBK (+8.55 %), and nineteen others.
A total of twenty-six stocks depreciated. With a price depreciation of -9.91%, PZ topped the worst-performers chart, followed by ETRANZACT (-9.84%), ZICHIS (-8.29%), FTNCOCOA (-8.19%), ROYALEX (-7.83%), and VFDGROUP (-6.90%).
Hence, market breadth closed flat, with 26 gainers and 26 losers. Sectoral performance was negative, with four of the five major markets declining today.
The Banking sector led by -0.97%, followed by the Consumer goods sector (-0.03%), the Oil & Gas sector (-0.002%), and the Industrial goods sector (-0.0003%). Only the Insurance sector increased by +1.21%.
