WED FEB 18 2026-theGBJournal| The extended bullish run in the local bourse came to a halt on Tuesday as the All-Share index closed lower after 11 consecutive gains.
Losses in MTNN (-3.8%), ZENITHBANK (-10.0%), WAPCO (-4.0%), UBA (-6.6%), and GTCO (-2.3%) drove the ASI lower by 0.5% to 189,362.92 points, causing the Month to Date and Year to Date returns to taper to 14.5% and 21.7%, respectively.
The total volume traded advanced by 11.5% to 1.20 billion units, valued at NGN60.19 billion, and exchanged in 86,607 deals. ACCESSCORP was the most traded stock by volume at 103.49 billion units, while ZENITHBANK was the most traded stock by value at NGN8.01 billion.
Sectoral performance was largely negative as the Banking (-3.7%), Insurance (-0.6%), Industrial Goods (-0.5%) and Oil & Gas (-0.1%) indices declined while the Consumer Goods (+2.5%) index advanced.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.1x), as 56 tickers gained relative to 26 losers. ABCTRANS (+9.9%) and REDSTAREX (+9.9%) led the gainers, while MECURE (-10.0%) and ZENITHBANK (-10.0%) posted the most significant losses of the day.
Similarly, the NASD reversed gains of yesterday, with the NASD Security Index (NSI) and market capitalisation shedding 0.92%, closing at 3,964.55 points and N2.37trn, respectively.
Market activity declined significantly during the session, with transaction volume and value plunging by 91.00% and 88.38% respectively
SDFCWAMCO (+8.89%) led the market gainers, while SD11PLC (-28.80%) was the sole decliner in today’s session.
At the currency market, the official FX rate appreciated by 0.4% to N1,339.00/US$1, signaling ongoing depreciation pressures from dollar shortages and external imbalances.
At the fixed income market, the Treasury bills secondary market were bullish, as the average yield contracted by 4bps to 17.5%.
Across the curve, the average yield contracted at the short (-5bps), mid (-1bp) and long (-6bps) segments, driven by demand for the 23DTM (-28bps), 170DTM (-1bp) and 352DTM (-44bps) bills, respectively. Conversely, the average yield expanded by 2bps to 22.8% in the OMO segment.
Meanwhile, the Deby Management Office (DMO) is scheduled to conduct an NTB primary market auction today, offering N1.15 trillion across the three maturities: N150.00 billion for the 91-Day tenor, N200.00 billion for the 182-Day tenor, and N800.00 billion for the 364-Day tenor.
Elsewhere, the FGN bond secondary market traded in a lull, as the average yield closed flat at 16.0%.
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