By Boluwatife Oshadiya | August 18, 2026
Key Points
- NGX All-Share Index falls 0.07% to 242,454.65 points as market capitalisation loses ₦106.24 billion
- Banking and Insurance stocks lead sectoral declines as 37 equities close lower against 19 gainers
- Trading volume falls to 1.33 billion shares while LASACO and MTNN lead volume and value activity
Main Story
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) equities market lost ₦106.24 billion in market capitalisation on Monday as profit-taking and sell-side pressure pushed the benchmark index lower.
The NGX All-Share Index (ASI) declined 0.07% to close at 242,454.65 points, reducing the year-to-date return to 55.81%, according to the market data supplied to BizWatch Nigeria.
Market capitalisation closed at ₦156.52 trillion, while market breadth weakened to 0.51x, with 19 gainers against 37 losers. The decline reflected broader risk-off positioning among investors as selling pressure spread across key stocks.
TRANSEXPR led the gainers with a 9.86% increase, followed by AVACAP at 9.72% and THOMASWY at 9.09%. RTBRISCOE recorded the largest decline at 9.91%, while FTGINSURE and MCNICHOLS fell 9.88% and 9.61%, respectively.
Trading activity was mixed. Total volume declined to 1.33 billion shares from 1.41 billion shares in the previous session, while traded value dropped sharply to ₦22.91 billion from ₦46.31 billion. The number of deals, however, increased to 45,439 from 39,072.
LASACO dominated volume activity with 730.69 million shares traded, while MTNN recorded the highest traded value at ₦7.30 billion.
Sector performance was also mixed. The Banking Index declined 1.48%, while Insurance fell 0.46%. Consumer Goods gained 0.43%, Oil & Gas slipped marginally by 0.01%, while the Industrial and Commodity sectors were broadly flat.
What’s Being Said
The market data points to increased selling pressure, particularly in banking and insurance stocks, although gains in Consumer Goods and continued activity in selected large-cap stocks provided some support.
What’s Next
Investors will monitor whether profit-taking persists in the next trading sessions or whether lower prices attract fresh buying.
A shift in portfolio positioning could also determine whether the NGX stabilises after the latest decline, particularly if investors begin rotating into sectors that have shown relative resilience.
Bottom Line
The Bottom Line: Monday’s decline points to a cautious phase in the equities market, with profit-taking outweighing buying interest despite the market’s strong year-to-date return. The key signal for investors will be whether the selling broadens further or gives way to renewed accumulation.
 equities market lost ₦106.24 billion in market capitalisation on Monday as profit-taking and sell-side pressure..){kind=link}