SNG: Nigerian equities market sheds $26mln as bearish sentiment weighs on equities

By Zawya08:38 (UTC), 3 November 2026 Updated

By Staff Writer

Nigerian equities market opened the new trading week on a bearish note on Monday, as renewed selling pressure on heavyweight stocks dragged market capitalisation down by N35.25 billion, amid weak investor sentiment and mixed sectoral performance.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index declined marginally by 0.02 per cent to 254,245.21 points, moderating its year-to-date return to 63.38 per cent, while market capitalisation fell to N165.08 trillion.

Market breadth remained weak, reflecting subdued appetite for equities, as 41 stocks closed in the red against 21 gainers, translating to a breadth ratio of 0.5 times.

The decline was led by Champion Breweries, SUNU Assurances and Aradel Holdings, which featured among the worst-performing stocks during the session.

The performance suggests that investors remained cautious, with limited buying interest in major stocks failing to offset losses across several sectors.

Sectoral performance was largely negative, as four of the six tracked sectors closed lower. The Oil and Gas index led the decline, shedding 3.75 per cent, followed by the Commodities sector, which fell 2.76 per cent.

The Banking index declined by 1.79 per cent, while Consumer Goods lost 1.17 per cent, reflecting broad-based selling pressure across key market segments.

However, the Industrial sector bucked the trend, advancing 3.34 per cent to emerge as the strongest performer, while the Insurance index gained 0.93 per cent.

Trading activity also weakened considerably, with both volume and value of transactions declining, although the number of deals increased sharply.

Turnover fell by 44.67 per cent to N47.48 billion, while traded volume dropped by 48.15 per cent to 517.26 million shares.

In contrast, the number of transactions increased by 42.63 per cent to 54,015 deals, suggesting that trading remained active despite the decline in the overall value and volume of shares exchanged.

Market analysts expect sustained selling pressure and weak breadth to constrain the market’s near-term recovery, although selective bargain-hunting in fundamentally attractive stocks could help moderate further losses.

Despite Monday’s marginal decline, the equities market maintained a year-to-date gain of 63.38 per cent, underscoring the substantial appreciation recorded since the beginning of the year.