MON JUNE 15 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria’s stock market started the week on a weaker footing, with broad-based selling in heavyweight energy and financial stocks pushing the benchmark index lower and extending recent losses.
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-Share Index fell 0.6% to close at 243,271.56 points on Monday, pressured by sharp declines in Aradel Holdings, First HoldCo, Transcorp and Oando. Aradel shed 5.7%, First HoldCo dropped 7.3%, Transcorp lost 5.0%, while Oando slumped 9.8%, collectively weighing on market performance.
The latest decline pushed the market’s month-to-date return deeper into negative territory at -2.8%, although the bourse remained firmly positive on a year-to-date basis with a gain of 56.3%, reflecting the strong rally recorded earlier in the year.
Trading activity also weakened significantly as investor participation slowed.
Total transaction volume declined 39.3% to 744.90 million shares, while the value of trades stood at N36.40 billion across 80,873 deals.
Sterling Financial Holdings emerged as the most actively traded stock by volume, accounting for 112.17 million shares exchanged, while Aradel led turnover charts with transactions worth N11.20 billion.
Sectoral performance was predominantly negative, underscoring the cautious sentiment across the market.
The Oil and Gas Index recorded the steepest decline, falling 3.2%, followed by the Banking Index, which lost 1.0%.
The Insurance Index slipped 0.7%, while the Consumer Goods Index declined 0.4%. The Industrial Goods Index was unchanged, providing little support to the broader market.
Market breadth remained firmly negative, highlighting the dominance of sellers. For every stock that advanced, more than three declined, with 15 gainers against 48 losers.
International Energy Insurance and eTranzact International topped the laggards’ list after both hit the daily maximum loss of 10.0%. On the positive side, Royal Exchange and Ikeja Hotel rose 10.0% each to lead the gainers.
Meanwhile, the naira strengthened in the foreign-exchange market, with the official exchange rate appreciating by 0.9% to NGN1,351.31 per U.S. dollar.
The currency’s gains provided a rare bright spot for investors amid continued weakness in domestic equities, as market participants assessed corporate earnings prospects, monetary conditions and broader macroeconomic developments.
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