…Financial stocks remained at the centre of the selloff, with investors trimming positions in some of the market’s most actively traded lenders.
TUE JUNE 02 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria’s equities market extended its retreat on Tuesday, with banking and consumer stocks dragging the benchmark index lower as investors locked in profits following the market’s strong rally this year.
The All-Share Index (ASI) fell 0.4% to close at 246,686.66 points, weighed down by sharp declines in First HoldCo Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc and Wema Bank Plc.
The latest decline pushed the market’s month-to-date return deeper into negative territory at -1.5%, while year-to-date gains moderated to 58.5%, reflecting a cooling of momentum after months of sustained advances.
Financial stocks remained at the centre of the selloff, with investors trimming positions in some of the market’s most actively traded lenders.
First HoldCo shed 6.7%, Zenith Bank declined 2.3% and Wema Bank lost 9.1%, dragging the Banking Index down 1.6% and making it the worst-performing sector of the session.
The weakness in banking counters underscores growing profit-taking activity among investors seeking to crystallise gains accumulated during the sector’s recent rally, which has been supported by strong earnings, elevated interest rates and ongoing recapitalisation expectations.
Market activity also softened considerably. Total trading volume dropped 47.9% to 587.64 million shares, while the value of transactions settled at N23.06 billion across 63,954 deals.
Access Holdings emerged as the most actively traded stock by volume with 113.10 million shares exchanged, while Zenith Bank led by value, accounting for N4.81 billion worth of transactions, highlighting continued investor interest in large-cap banking names despite the broader decline.
Sector performance was largely negative. Alongside the banking sector, the Consumer Goods Index fell 0.5%, pressured by a 10% decline in PZ Cussons, while the Insurance Index slipped 0.4%.
The Industrial Goods and Oil and Gas indices closed unchanged, providing little support to the broader market.
Investor sentiment remained weak, as reflected in a market breadth ratio of 0.4 times.
Losers significantly outnumbered gainers, with 36 stocks declining against 14 advancers. PZ Cussons and Computer Warehouse Group posted the steepest losses of the session, each shedding 10%, while International Energy Insurance gained 9.9% and Trans-Nationwide Express advanced 7.4% to lead the day’s gainers.
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