By Boluwatife Oshadiya, Markets Reporter | March 5, 2026
Key Points
- NGX All-Share Index falls 0.08% to 196,463.22 points
- Market capitalisation declines by ₦101.9 billion to ₦126.1 trillion
- Trading activity weakens as share volume and deal count decline
Main Story
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) ended its recent rally on Wednesday as investors moved to lock in profits, pushing the benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) down 0.08% to close at 196,463.22 points.
The marginal decline reduced the market’s year-to-date return to 26.25%, while total market capitalisation fell by ₦101.9 billion to settle at ₦126.1 trillion.
Investor sentiment during the session was broadly negative, with market breadth closing at 0.6x as 37 stocks declined compared with 22 gainers.
Among the day’s top performers were PREMPAINTS, which gained 10%, FTGINSURE rising 9.74%, and UACN advancing 7.78%. On the losing side, DANGSUGAR and JAIZBANK each dropped 10%, while CAP declined 9.97%.
Trading activity also slowed compared with the previous session. Total share volume declined by 8.49% to 805.25 million units, while the value of transactions dropped 13.69% to ₦38.42 billion.
The number of deals executed on the exchange fell significantly, dropping 17.8% to 71,312 trades, compared with 86,761 deals recorded in the previous trading session.
VERITASKAP led the volume chart with 56.42 million shares traded, while MTNN topped the value chart with transactions worth ₦7.08 billion.
Sectoral performance was largely negative. The Consumer Goods index recorded the steepest drop at 0.86%, followed by Banking, which fell 0.45%. Oil and Gas and Industrial Goods both slipped by 0.03%.
The Insurance index was the only major sector to post gains, rising 0.33%, while the Commodity index remained unchanged.
What’s Being Said
Market analysts say the decline reflects normal profit-taking following the strong rally recorded on the exchange earlier in the year.
“The modest pullback reflects investors adjusting portfolios after a strong run in equity prices, rather than a broad shift in market fundamentals,” analysts noted in a post-market report.
What’s Next
Investors will be watching corporate earnings releases and macroeconomic signals for cues on the market’s next direction. Market participants are also expected to monitor foreign exchange movements and interest rate expectations, which continue to influence portfolio flows into Nigerian equities.
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