By Boluwatife Oshadiya | August 21, 2026
Key Points
- NGX All-Share Index fell 0.30% to 240,037.80 points as sell pressure extended into an eighth trading day
- Market capitalisation declined by ₦440.33 billion to ₦154.98 trillion
- Oil and Gas, Insurance and Banking stocks led sectoral losses, falling 2.49%, 0.79% and 0.41% respectively
Main Story
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) closed lower on Thursday as continued profit-taking in energy, oil and gas, insurance and banking stocks pushed market capitalisation down by ₦440.33 billion.
The NGX All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 0.30%, or 712.67 points, to 240,037.80 points from 240,750.47 points, while market capitalisation fell 0.28% to ₦154.98 trillion.
The decline extended the local equities market’s losing streak to eight consecutive trading sessions, with selling pressure concentrated in several medium- and large-cap stocks.
Aradel Holdings, Oando and Zichis Agro-Allied Industries were among the stocks that came under pressure, falling 5.40%, 3.68% and 7.36%, respectively.
Market activity increased sharply, with 2.87 billion shares worth ₦33.99 billion traded in 34,725 deals. Trading volume rose 140.65% from 1.19 billion shares recorded in 34,546 deals on Wednesday, while transaction value declined from ₦37.82 billion.
Fortis Global Insurance led volume activity with about 2.56 billion shares, representing roughly 89% of total market volume. Aradel Holdings recorded the highest value traded at ₦6.23 billion, accounting for 18.32% of total transaction value.
Haldane McCall led the gainers with a 9.38% increase, followed by Trans-Nationwide Express at 8.90% and McNichols at 8.33%.
International Energy Insurance was the worst performer, declining 9.85% to ₦4.30, followed by WAPIC at 9.84% and Fortis Global Insurance at 9.76%.
The market’s sectoral performance was also negative, with three of the five major sectors declining.
What’s Being Said
Market data showed that the latest decline was driven primarily by continued selling in large- and medium-cap stocks, particularly within the Oil and Gas and Insurance sectors.
The supplied market report did not include a direct quotation from an identified broker, analyst or exchange official, so no quotation has been added to avoid attributing an invented statement to a source.
What’s Next
- Investors will monitor whether profit-taking persists when trading resumes in the next session
- Further movements in large-cap Oil and Gas, Banking and Insurance stocks will remain important for the direction of the ASI
The Bottom Line:
The eighth consecutive decline shows that profit-taking remains a significant drag on Nigerian equities despite the sharp increase in trading volume. Until buying interest strengthens across large-cap stocks, elevated activity alone may not be enough to reverse the market’s bearish momentum.
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