Nigerian Stock Market Drops to N162.84trn as Investors Lose N812bn
The Nigerian stock market capitalisation dropped to N162.84 trillion as investors lost more than N812 billion week-on-week on the exchange.
Trading on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) commenced with bearish positions displayed across sectoral indexes ahead of the third quarter of 2026 earnings season.
Stockbrokers reported that renewed sell-offs in selected heavyweight counters outweighed gains across several other stocks.
The All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 0.52% week-on-week (WoW) to close at 250,808.27 points, while market capitalisation fell by approximately N812.61 billion to N162.84 trillion.
Consequently, the market’s year-to-date (YTD) return moderated to 61.17%, although equities remained firmly in positive territory on a cumulative basis.
The week’s performance points to near-term profit-taking and rotation, with gains in several counters failing to fully offset losses in selected heavyweight stocks.
Despite the headline index’s decline, underlying market breadth remained positive, with 44 gainers against 37 losers, for a breadth ratio of 1.19x.
Market analysts at Cowry Asset Securities Limited said in a note that this suggests the week’s weakness was not entirely broad-based, with a sizeable number of stocks posting gains.
However, the positive breadth was insufficient to offset losses in some of the market’s larger-cap and influential counters, which exerted greater pressure on the ASI.
Trading activity also weakened across key market indicators, reflecting a more cautious investor stance. The number of deals, trading volume, and transaction value declined by 20.90%, 32.48%, and 35.63% WoW, respectively.
In total, investors exchanged 3.17 billion shares valued at N155.11 billion across 206,974 deals during the week, Cowry Asset Limited wrote in its market update.
The decline in both volume and value indicates softer participation than the preceding week, as investors appeared more selective amid recent market volatility and profit-taking pressures.
Sectoral performance was mixed, with the Insurance sector emerging as the strongest performer, advancing 0.61% on a weekly comparison.
The Oil/Gas sector also recorded a marginal gain of 0.05%. In contrast, the Banking sector led the decliners with a 1.33% WoW contraction, reflecting continued pressure on some banking counters.
The Consumer Goods and Industrial Goods sectors also declined by 0.91% and 0.26%, respectively, while the Commodity sector remained unchanged at 0.00%.
On the gainers’ chart, ABCTRANS was the week’s best performer, up 45.1%. CMFC followed with a 37.7% gain, while LIVINGTRUST, VFDGROUP, and CWG advanced by 32.7%, 18.4%, and 15.3%, respectively.
Strong performances across these counters helped support the market’s positive breadth despite the broader index’s decline.
At the other end of the market, SOVRENINS recorded the steepest decline, shedding 12.5% during the week. ETRANZACT followed with a 12.0% decline, while LEARNAFRICA, PZ, and FTGINSURE fell by 11.0%, 10.0%, and 9.5%, respectively.
Going forward, Cowry Asset Securities Limited expects the market to remain cautious and volatile in the near term, as investors continue to lock in profits following the strong year-to-date gains.
The investment firm said, nevertheless, the market’s positive breadth points to underlying resilience and could encourage selective bargain-hunting, particularly in fundamentally sound counters that have lagged the broader market rally.
Market direction is likely to be influenced by the trajectory of corporate earnings, evolving macroeconomic conditions, system liquidity, interest-rate expectations, and overall investor sentiment.
Against this backdrop, stockbrokers at Cowry Asset expect investors to remain selective, favouring stocks with attractive valuations, resilient earnings profiles, sustainable dividend capacity, and credible growth prospects.
This could result in continued sector and stock rotation as investors balance profit-taking against opportunities emerging from recent price corrections.
