FRI MAY 22 2026-theGBJournal| The Nigerian equities market closed the week on a weaker note, with the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) declining by 0.25 per cent to 249,712.37 points, while total market capitalisation fell by 0.23 per cent to N160.077 trillion.
The decline reflects a mild bout of profit-taking by investors following recent market gains, as participants locked in profits on selected large- and medium-cap stocks.
The drop in market capitalisation translates to an estimated loss of about N364 billion in shareholder value during the week, underscoring the cautious sentiment that prevailed across the market.
Similarly, all other indices finished lower with the exception of NGX CG, NGX Premium, NGX Banking, NGX Pension, NGX AFR Bank Value, NGX MERI Growth, NGX Oil & Gas, NGX Growth and NGX Commodity which appreciated by 0.24%, 0.33%, 1.11%, 0.19%, 1.47%, 0.33%, 0.07%, 1.57% and 0.02% respectively while the NGX Sovereign Bond closed flat.
Sell pressures were significant on BUACEMENT (-3.5%), GTCO (-1.2%), DANGSUGAR (-4.4%), NASCON(-5.4%), and UACN(-5.0%) stocks.
Consequently, the month-to-date and year-to-date returns moderated to +3.0% and +60.4%, respectively.
On trading activity, total volume and value traded declined by 50.2% w/w and 56.6% w/w, respectively.
Across sectors, the Insurance (-1.8%), Industrial Goods (-1.2%) and Consumer Goods (-0.8%) indices closed lower, while the Banking (+1.1%) and Oil & Gas ( +0.1%) indices closed higher.
Trading in the top three equities, namely Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc and Access Holdings Plc (measured by volume), accounted for 1.092 billion shares worth N19.527 billion in 21,683 deals, contributing 28.18% and 12.07% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Thirty-eight equities appreciated in price during the week, lower than seventy-four equities in the previous week. Fifty-five equities depreciated in price, higher than twenty-four equities in the previous week, while fitty-three equities remained unchanged, higher than forty-eight recorded in the previous week.
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