THUR JULY 23 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria’s equities market retreated on Wednesday as sharp losses in heavyweight consumer stocks outweighed broad-based buying interest, ending a recent rally even as trading volumes surged and the naira strengthened in the official foreign exchange market.
The NGX All-Share Index (ASI) fell 0.50% to 245,418.37 points, dragging market capitalisation down to ₦158.32 trillion.
The decline trimmed the market’s year-to-date return to 57.71%, from 58.51% in the previous session.
The sell-off was led by BUA Foods, Nestlé Nigeria and UAC of Nigeria, which shed 10.0%, 10.0% and 7.75%, respectively.
Their losses more than offset strong gains in Cadbury Nigeria, Unilever Nigeria and NASCON Allied Industries, each of which advanced the daily maximum of 10%.
Despite the weaker close, investor activity remained robust. Trading volume climbed 34.3% to 1.25 billion shares, while the value of transactions more than doubled, rising 139.8% to ₦118.18 billion.
First HoldCo dominated market activity, accounting for 736.04 million shares worth ₦80.81 billion, making it the most actively traded stock by both volume and value.
Market breadth remained positive, underscoring resilient investor appetite beneath the headline decline. A total of 41 stocks advanced against 25 decliners, producing a positive breadth ratio of 1.64 times.
The over-the-counter market also weakened, with the NASD Security Index declining 0.24% to 4,383.48 points, reducing market capitalisation to ₦2.63 trillion.
The NASD’s year-to-date return eased to 23.70%.
Trading activity on the NASD strengthened markedly, with transaction volume surging more than 34-fold to 11.40 million units, while turnover rose 122.2% to ₦43.15 million across 49 deals.
SDGEFLUID emerged as the session’s top performer with a 9.09% gain, while SDFCWAMCO posted the steepest decline, falling 3.80%.
In the foreign exchange market, the naira appreciated by 0.5% at the official window, closing at ₦1,369.24 per U.S. dollar, extending recent signs of stability in the currency market.
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