WED OCT 14 2026-theGBJournal| The Nigerian equities market extended its bearish sentiment as sell-offs in major banking and consumer goods stocks weighed on market performance, pushing the All-Share Index (ASI) down by 0.1% to close at 247,513.63 points.
The decline was driven by losses in First HoldCo (-2.3%), Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) (-2.5%), Zenith Bank (-0.8%) and Dangote Sugar Refinery (-1.3%).
Consequently, the market’s month-to-date return settled at -1.5%, while the year-to-date return moderated to +59.1%.
Trading activity also weakened, with total volume declining by 2.8% to 394.20 million shares, valued at N21.38 billion across 38,707 deals.
Access Holdings (ACCESSCORP) led trading by volume, with 57.02 million shares exchanged, while GTCO topped the value chart with transactions worth ₦3.13 billion.
Sectoral performance was mixed as the Banking (-0.8%) and Insurance (-0.4%) indices declined, while the Consumer Goods (+0.1%) and Oil & Gas (+0.1%) indices advanced. Meanwhile, the Industrial Goods index closed flat.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.1x), as 24 tickers gained relative to 21 losers.
LEGENDINT (-6.9%) and OMATEK (-6.4%) led the losers, while ETRANZACT (+10.0%) and WAPIC (+7.8%) posted the most significant gains of the day.
At the currency market, the naira depreciated against the U.S. dollar for the second consecutive session, with the USD/NGN pair rising by 0.03% to close at ₦1,332.47/$.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s external reserves increased by 0.03% to $55.06 billion as of 8 October 2026, extending the recent improvement in the country’s external buffers.
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