FRI JUNE 19 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria’s equities market extended its decline on Thursday, with the benchmark All-Share Index falling 1.41% to 237,404.92 points as heavy selling in blue-chip stocks, led by Dangote Cement, weighed on sentiment.
The decline trimmed the market’s year-to-date return to 52.56% from 54.74%, while market capitalisation dropped by 1.41% to N152.27 trillion.
Losses in Dangote Cement, which shed 3.60%, and Cadbury Nigeria, down 10%, offset gains in Transcorp, which rose 7.32%, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals, up 7.03%, and First HoldCo, which advanced 0.83%.
Airtel Africa ended unchanged.
Trading activity strengthened despite the weaker market.
Total volume traded rose 21.54%, while the value of transactions surged 271.68%.
First HoldCo was the most actively traded stock by volume with 115.83 million shares exchanged, while Dangote Cement accounted for the largest value of trades at N83.39 billion.
Market breadth remained negative, with 39 decliners against 15 gainers, giving a breadth ratio of 0.38.
Afriprudential led the laggards with a 10% decline, while Legend Internet topped the gainers after rising 9.52%.
Meanwhile, the NASD Over-the-Counter market bucked the trend, with the NASD Security Index rising 0.10% to 4,361.09 points and market capitalisation increasing to N2.61 trillion.
Trading volumes on the OTC platform fell 20.09%, although transaction value climbed 25.05%. A total of 792,835 shares worth N49 million changed hands in 20 deals.
SD Afriland Properties led gainers with a 4.01% increase, while SD Okitipupa Plc posted the steepest decline, falling 7.14%.
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