By theG&BJournal
THUR FEB 26 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria’s equities market closed lower again on Wednesday, extending its recent losing streak as investors continued to book profits amid cautious sentiment.
Losses in banking tickers, including FIRSTHOLDCO (-8.4%), ZENITHBANK (-2.2%), and GTCO (-1.7%), drove the All-Share Index lower by 0.1% to 194,370.20 points.
Consequently, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns moderated to +17.5% and +24.9%, respectively, while market capitalisation fell by 0.06% to settle at N124.75 trillion.
The total volume traded increased by 19.3% to 1.36 billion units, valued at N45.36 billion, and exchanged in 69,642 deals.
ZENITHBANK was the most traded stock by volume and value at 120.67 million units and NGN11.07 billion, respectively.
Sectoral performance was mixed, as the Insurance (-3.8%), Banking (-2.1%), Oil & Gas (-0.2%), and Industrial Goods (-0.2%) indices declined, while the Consumer Goods (+1.2%) index advanced.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was negative (0.4x), as 53 tickers lost relative to 21 gainers. RTBRISCOE (-10.0%) and ABCTRANS (-10.0%) led the losers, while JAIZBANK (+10.0%) and OKOMUOIL (+9.9%) posted the most significant gains of the day.
Persistent portfolio rebalancing and sector-specific selloffs weighed on the benchmark index, reinforcing a short-term bearish tone across the trading floor.
In contrast, the naira posted modest gains in the foreign exchange market, supported by improved dollar liquidity and sustained interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The currency rose 0.6% to N1,351.13/US$ after a 1.1% drop to N1,359/US$1 on Tuesday at the official foreign exchange market.
The local currency’s recovery offered a measure of stability, even as broader macroeconomic uncertainties linger.
Meanwhile, activity in the fixed income space was mixed, with yields trending in different directions across treasury bills and FGN bonds.
While some maturities attracted buying interest on expectations of softer rates, others saw mild sell pressure as investors weighed inflation risks against monetary policy signals.
The treasury bills average yield expanded by 14bps to 17.2%.
Across the curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-1bp) end, due to the demand for the 85DTM (-1bp), but expanded at the mid (+6bps) and long (+27bps) segments, due to profit-taking activities on the 176DTM (+45bps) and 288DTM (+58bps) bills, respectively.
In contrast, the average yield contracted by 2bps to 20.4% in the OMO segment.
In contrast, the FGN Bonds yield contracted by 31bps to 15.4%.
Across the benchmark curve, the average yield expanded at the short (+16bps) end, due to the sell-off of the FEB-2031 (+54bps) bond, but contracted at the mid (-34bps) and long (-64bps) segments due to buying interest in the MAR-2035 (-110bps) and MAR-2036 (-105bps) bonds, respectively.
At the money market, the overnight lending rate contracted by 10bps to 22.2% in the absence of any significant funding pressure on the system.
Analysts say the divergent market movements reflect a transitional phase, with investors closely monitoring policy direction, liquidity conditions and corporate earnings outlook.
The interplay between equities weakness, currency strength and cautious bond trading underscores a market searching for clearer signals on the next economic pivot.
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