TUE NOV 03 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria’s equities market opened November on a negative footing on Monday, as losses in heavyweight stocks dragged the benchmark index lower, extending cautious sentiment into the new trading month.
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) declined 0.02% to close at 254,245.21 points, while market capitalisation shed 0.02% to N165.08 trillion.
The marginal decline moderated the market’s year-to-date (YTD) return to 63.38%, from 63.42% in the previous session.
Selling pressure was concentrated in ARADEL (-9.99%), INTBREW (-8.60%) and ZENITHBANK (-2.52%). However, gains in DANGCEM (+4.93%), UNILEVER (+2.94%) and BUACEMENT (+1.57%) provided some support, limiting the broader market’s decline.
Sectoral Performance
Sectoral performance was mixed, although losses dominated the session.
The Oil and Gas index led the decline, shedding 3.75%, followed by the Banking and Consumer Goods indices, which fell 1.79% and 1.25%, respectively.
Conversely, the Industrial Goods index advanced 3.34%, while the Insurance index gained 0.93%, emerging as the session’s positive performers.
Trading Activity
Trading activity weakened considerably, with total volume traded declining 48.15% to 517.26 million shares, while transaction value fell 44.67% to N47.48 billion.
However, the number of deals increased 42.63% to 54,015, suggesting a higher frequency of transactions despite the contraction in overall turnover.
ACCESSCORP led trading volume with 74.19 million shares exchanged, while DANGCEM dominated the value chart, accounting for transactions worth N13.44 billion.
Market breadth remained negative at 0.55x, reflecting 27 advancers against 39 decliners.
CONHALLPLC led the gainers, appreciating 10.00%, while CHAMPION topped the losers’ chart with a corresponding 10.00% decline.
NASD OTC Market
The NASD OTC market also started the week in negative territory, with the NASD Securities Index (NSI) declining 0.22% to 4,272.48 points.
Market capitalisation stood at N2.56 trillion, while the YTD return improved to 20.93%, from 20.83%.
Despite the decline in the benchmark index, trading activity strengthened significantly.
Total volume traded surged 677.31% to 1.35 million units, while transaction value increased 133.91% to N30.58 million. The number of trades also advanced 2.86% to 36.
SDMRS led the gainers, appreciating 10.56%, followed by SD11PLC (+1.56%) and SDUBNPROP (+0.19%).
On the downside, CSCSPLC declined 1.74%, emerging as the session’s top loser, followed by SDFCWAMCO, which shed 1.38%.
Foreign Exchange and External Reserves
The naira weakened against major international currencies on Monday, reflecting renewed pressure in the foreign exchange market.
Against the euro, the naira depreciated by approximately 0.60%, with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s reference rate rising to N1,511.70/€, from N1,502.67 in the previous session.
Similarly, the local currency lost approximately 0.32% against the British pound, with the exchange rate increasing to N1,808.67/£, compared with N1,802.91 previously.
The movements indicate broad-based weakness in the naira against both European currencies, with the euro recording a relatively steeper appreciation.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s external reserves declined marginally by 0.03% to $55.22 billion as of October 30, 2026, indicating a slight moderation in the country’s external liquidity buffer.
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