The Nigerian equities market extended its losing streak on Tuesday as investors dumped banking and consumer goods stocks ahead of the Muslim festive holidays, wiping out nearly N889 billion from market capitalisation amid broad-based sectoral weakness and subdued trading activity.
At the close of trading on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), the benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) fell by 0.55 percent to settle at 249,738.84 points, down from 251,125.02 points recorded in the previous session. The downturn moderated the market’s year-to-date return to 60.49 percent.
The market capitalisation of listed equities declined by approximately N888.61 billion to close at N160.09 trillion, compared with N160.9 trillion on Monday, reflecting heavy sell-offs in bellwether stocks across key sectors of the market.
Analysts attributed the bearish sentiment largely to profit-taking activities and investor caution ahead of the two-day public holiday for the Eid-el-Kabir celebration. Market participants appeared reluctant to take fresh positions, particularly in banking and consumer goods counters that had posted strong gains in recent sessions.
Trading data showed that market breadth remained weak at 0.5x, as decliners significantly outnumbered gainers. A total of 37 stocks closed in the red against 18 gainers, while a large number of equities remained unchanged, reinforcing the negative sentiment that dominated the session.
Among the top losers were Dangote Sugar Refinery, Trans Power, and TIP, all of which suffered steep declines in share prices. Dangote Sugar shed 10 percent to close at N78.30 per share from N87.00, while Trans Power declined by 9.97 percent to N245.50 from N272.70. TIP also dropped 9.85 percent to close at N27.45 per share from N30.45.
Other notable laggards included Abbey Mortgage Bank and Fidelity Bank, both of which came under selling pressure as investors trimmed exposure to financial services stocks.
On the gainers’ chart, Austin Laz & Company led with a 10 percent appreciation in share price to close at N4.40 from N4.00 per share. McNichols Plc also advanced by 10 percent to N7.92, while Intenegins gained 9.89 percent to close at N4.11 per share. Learn Africa and HMCALL also recorded appreciable gains, providing some respite in an otherwise weak market session.
Sectoral performance reflected the bearish undertone, with five of the six major indices closing negative. The Banking Index posted the heaviest decline, dropping 1.83 percent amid sell-offs in tier-one banking stocks. The Insurance Index followed with a 1.41 percent loss, while the Consumer Goods Index fell by 0.77 percent.
Similarly, the Commodity Index declined by 0.86 percent, and the Oil and Gas Index dipped marginally by 0.14 percent. The Industrial Goods Index, however, closed flat, supported by price stability in some major cement and industrial counters.
Investor participation also weakened considerably during the session, as key trading metrics closed lower compared with the previous trading day. The total number of deals declined by 30.34 percent to 65,666 transactions, while trading volume dropped by 10.38 percent to 564.06 million shares.
In value terms, transactions fell sharply by 33.46 percent to N27.22 billion, indicating reduced appetite for large-volume positions as investors adopted a wait-and-see approach ahead of the holidays.
Access Holdings emerged as the most traded stock by volume, exchanging about 80 million shares in 3,105 deals. Zenith Bank followed with 33 million shares traded in 3,807 deals, while Mutual Benefits Assurance recorded 31 million shares in 494 deals.
On the value chart, Zenith Bank topped activity with equities worth N4.4 billion traded in 3,807 deals. Aradel Holdings followed closely with transactions valued at N4.2 billion in 2,281 deals, while MTN Nigeria recorded trades worth N2.8 billion in 4,949 deals.
Market operators noted that despite the recent pullback, the equities market has remained resilient overall in 2026, supported by improved corporate earnings, banking sector recapitalisation expectations, and sustained domestic investor participation.
However, they warned that short-term volatility may persist as investors continue to rebalance portfolios and lock in profits following the market’s strong year-to-date performance.
Looking ahead, analysts expect mixed sentiment to dominate the next trading session, with cautious positioning likely to persist due to the holiday-shortened trading week and uncertainty over near-term market direction.
