THUR JULY 30 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria’s benchmark stock index extended its decline on Wednesday as investors continued to trim positions in banking and large-cap stocks, overshadowing a rally in insurance counters, while the naira weakened for a second straight session in the official foreign exchange market.
The NGX All-Share Index fell 0.41% to 246,980.17 points, reducing this year’s gain to 58.71% from 59.36%, while market capitalisation shed N660 billion to close at N159.34 trillion.
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The latest pullback suggests investors are locking in profits after the market’s recent rally, particularly in financial stocks that have been among the year’s strongest performers.
Banking names led the decline, with Sterling Financial Holdings dropping 6.83%, FCMB Group losing 4.66% and HBM Nigeria falling 3.80%.
Their losses outweighed gains in insurance stocks, where Lasaco Assurance climbed the daily limit of 10.00%, while NEM Insurance and SUNU Assurance advanced 9.97% and 9.83%, respectively.
Market sentiment remained fragile, with decliners outnumbering gainers by 43 to 23, leaving market breadth at 0.53x.
Cornerstone Insurance and Legend Internet each fell 10.00% to top the losers’ list.
Trading activity presented a mixed picture.
Share volume rose 12.11% to 758.87 million units, signalling sustained investor participation, but the value of transactions slipped 7.23% to ₦33.79 billion, suggesting activity was concentrated in lower-priced stocks.
FCMB recorded the highest trading volume with 92.44 million shares, while First HoldCo accounted for the largest turnover at N8.77 billion.
Away from the main exchange, the NASD Over-the-Counter market outperformed, with the NASD Security Index rising 1.21% to 4,324.88 points, lifting market capitalisation to N2.60 trillion and pushing its year-to-date return to 22.04%.
The advance came despite a sharp slowdown in trading activity, with transaction volume plunging 96.79% to 213,893 units and turnover dropping 82.70% to N14.84 million.
SDMRS gained 9.09% as the session’s only advancer, while no stock closed lower.
In the foreign exchange market, the naira weakened for a second consecutive session, slipping three basis points to close at N1,364.85 per US dollar at the official market.
The modest depreciation points to persistent demand for foreign currency despite recent improvements in external reserves and liquidity conditions.
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