…First HoldCo and Access Corporation also under pressure
…Nigerian Stocks Lose N1.58 trillion as banking sell-Off drags market lower
SUN OCT 11 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria’s equity market endured a torrid week, with banking stocks bearing the brunt of a broad-based sell-off that erased approximately N1.58 trillion from market capitalisation and trimmed the market’s year-to-date return to 59.60%.
Fidelity Bank was the market’s standout casualty among the major stocks highlighted in the weekly performance report, plunging 10.64%, followed by First HoldCo, down 4.27%, and Access Corporation, which lost 1.37%.
Their declines outweighed strong rallies in Livestock Feeds, Guinea Insurance and CAP, leaving the Nigerian Exchange’s All-Share Index (ASI) down 0.97% week-on-week at 248,363.55 points.
Market capitalisation fell by the same 0.97% to N161.26 trillion, moderating the benchmark index’s year-to-date return to 59.60%, from 61.17% in the preceding week.
The sell-off was particularly pronounced in the banking sector, whose index fell 3.93% over the week, making it the market’s worst-performing sector.
Oil and gas stocks followed with a 3.81% decline, while consumer goods shed 1.49%. Insurance and industrial goods stocks also finished lower, falling 1.15% and 0.24%, respectively.
The market’s losses came despite pockets of strong buying interest. Livestock Feeds surged 47.75% during the week, Guinea Insurance advanced 29.17%, and CAP gained 16.22%, emerging among the strongest performers in an otherwise difficult trading environment.
Friday’s session offered a modest reprieve, with the ASI and market capitalisation each gaining 0.13%.
Oando rose 6.90%, MTN Nigeria Communications added 2.69%, and Livestock Feeds advanced a further 9.58%, helping offset renewed selling in Fidelity Bank, which fell 8.70% on the day. NAHCO declined 6.67%, while Jaiz Bank lost 4.27%.
The late-week recovery, however, did little to reverse the broader deterioration in market sentiment.
Trading activity weakened sharply. Total volume traded fell 34.57% to 322.04 million units, while transaction value declined 46.08% to ₦20.50 billion.
The number of deals slipped 2.33% to 37,810.
Access Corporation led trading by volume, with 19.19 million units exchanged, while Zenith Bank topped the value chart with transactions worth N4.30 billion.
Market breadth remained negative, with 37 stocks declining against 29 advancers, producing an advancers-to-decliners ratio of 0.78x.
Regal Insurance led the gainers, rising 10.00%, while Red Star Express was the biggest decliner in Friday’s reported market breadth, shedding 9.76%.
NASD Market Also Ends Week in the Red
The weakness extended beyond the Nigerian Exchange to the NASD over-the-counter market, where the NASD Securities Index fell 2.40% week-on-week to 4,355.00 points.
Market capitalisation declined 2.61% to N2.61 trillion, bringing the market’s year-to-date return down to 22.89%.
Yet trading activity surged as investors exchanged 6.07 million units, an increase of 1,820.06% from the preceding week.
Transaction value jumped 1,853.62% to N393.37 million, while the number of trades climbed 391.43% to 172.
SDMRS led the weekly gainers with a 10.00% advance, while SDFCWAMCO was the worst performer, falling 14.51%.
The last week’s trading left investors confronting a market increasingly divided between pockets of speculative strength and sustained pressure on major banking stocks, with Fidelity Bank’s double-digit decline underscoring the intensity of selling in the sector.
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