WED JUNE 24 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria’s stock market posted one of its steepest decline in weeks on Wednesday, with heavyweight cement manufacturers dragging the benchmark index sharply lower and wiping more than N3.6 trillion off investors’ holdings.
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-Share Index fell 2.4% to close at 235,006.27 points, pressured by steep losses in major bellwether stocks including DANGCEM, BUACEMENT and GEREGU, all of which declined by the maximum daily limit of 10%.
The broad-based selloff reduced the market capitalization of listed equities by N3.63 trillion to N150.85 trillion, extending recent market weakness.
As a result, the market’s month-to-date return worsened to -6.1%, while year-to-date gains moderated to 51.1%.
Trading activity also softened, reflecting cautious investor sentiment.
Total volume traded declined 10.1% to 488.04 million shares valued at N20.92 billion across 46,161 deals.
FIRSTHOLDCO emerged as the most actively traded stock by volume, with 57.39 million shares exchanged, while GEREGU led turnover by value at N3.67 billion.
Sectoral performance was uniformly negative, underscoring the breadth of the market decline.
The Industrial Goods Index recorded the steepest loss, tumbling 8.3% as investors sold down cement stocks.
The Insurance Index fell 1.0%, while Banking, Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas indices shed 0.7%, 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively.
Market breadth remained firmly bearish, with 37 decliners outpacing 17 gainers, translating to a negative breadth ratio of 0.5x.
BUACEMENT and DANGCEM topped the losers’ chart after both hit the daily price limit, while SKYAVN advanced 9.9% and INTENEGINS gained 9.6% to emerge as the session’s strongest performers.
In the foreign exchange market, the naira weakened further, with the official exchange rate depreciating 1.3% to NGN1,389 per U.S. dollar, adding to concerns over broader financial market stability as investors continue to assess domestic liquidity conditions and macroeconomic developments.
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