FRI MAR 27 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria’s domestic equities market closed the week on a bearish note, weighed down by sell-offs in bellwether stocks including MTN Nigeria Communications Plc (-5.3%), Zenith Bank Plc (-6.4%), FirstHoldCo Plc (-4.7%), and United Bank for Africa Plc (-2.1%).
As a result, the benchmark All-Share Index and market capitalization slipped marginally by 0.1% week-on-week to close at 200,913.06 points and N128.969 trillion respectively.
Similarly, all other indices finished lower with the exception of NGX Main Board, NGX Insurance, NGX AFR Div Yield, NGX Oil & Gas, NGX Lotus II, NGX Growth and NGX Commodity which appreciated by 1.53%, 2.22%, 1.36%, 1.93%, 1.61% 2.31% and 2.77% respectively while the NGX Sovereign Bond index closed flat.
Despite the dip, the market maintained a positive trajectory, with month-to-date and year-to-date returns settling at +4.2% and +29.1%, respectively.
Trading activity weakened significantly during the week, with total volume and value traded declining by 54.9% and 25.6% week-on-week, reflecting cautious investor sentiment and reduced participation.
Trading in the top three equities, namely Wema Bank Plc, Access Holdings Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc (measured by volume), accounted for 1.448 billion shares worth N43.191 billion in 28,436 deals, contributing 36.65% and 21.45% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Sectoral performance was mixed, as losses in the Oil & Gas (-0.3%) and Consumer Goods (-1.0%) sectors contrasted with gains recorded in Industrial Goods (+9.5%), Insurance (+1.8%), and Banking (+1.7%) indices.
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