NGX sheds N1.17trn as MTNN, DangSugar drag market lower

Investors on the Nigerian Exchange lost N1.17 trillion in market value on Tuesday as renewed selling pressure in MTN Nigeria and other large-cap stocks dragged the equities market lower despite a sharp increase in trading activity.

The NGX All-Share Index fell 0.73 per cent to 246,723.57 points, while market capitalisation declined by the same margin to N159.25 trillion from N160.42 trillion in the previous session.

The decline moderated the market’s year-to-date return to 58.55 per cent, from 59.71 per cent recorded at the previous close.

The sell-off was driven largely by losses in MTN Nigeria, Dangote Sugar Refinery and Transnational Corporation, which fell 4.73 per cent, 4.11 per cent and 2.59 per cent respectively.

The declines in the heavyweight counters outweighed gains recorded in FTN Cocoa, Cadbury Nigeria and Sovereign Trust Insurance, which rose 9.88 per cent, 5.85 per cent and 6.74 per cent respectively.

Despite the bearish close, trading activity strengthened significantly, pointing to increased investor positioning and profit-taking across the market.

Total traded volume surged 243.77 per cent to 3.91 billion shares, compared with the previous session, while transaction value increased 19.85 per cent to N32.38 billion.

Access Holdings led trading by volume with 66.12 million shares exchanged, while First HoldCo accounted for the highest value of transactions at N5.38 billion.

Market breadth closed at 1.00x, with 27 stocks advancing and an equal number declining, indicating a balanced distribution between gainers and losers even as the benchmark index recorded a significant decline.

UPDC emerged as the strongest gainer, rising 10 per cent, while Thomas Wyatt Nigeria recorded the largest decline at 9.97 per cent.

The session’s performance suggests that the market’s latest weakness was concentrated in some of the more influential counters rather than reflecting a broad-based sell-off across the entire exchange.

The decline came as investors also monitored developments in the foreign exchange and global commodity markets.

At the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market, the naira weakened by 0.35 per cent to close at N1,364.90 to the dollar, compared with the previous session.

The movement in the currency market remains an important factor for investors, particularly companies with significant foreign-exchange exposure and businesses whose earnings or input costs are affected by exchange-rate movements.

In the commodities market, crude oil prices remained near one-week highs as developments around shipping through the Strait of Hormuz continued to influence global supply expectations.

Advanced Oman-Iran talks over Hormuz shipping raised hopes of a de-escalation, although continued Houthi attacks, Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries and reduced traffic through the strategic waterway continued to disrupt supply.

The combination of local market profit-taking, currency movements and global oil-market uncertainty leaves investors balancing Nigeria’s strong year-to-date equity gains against renewed short-term volatility.

Meanwhile, the NASD over-the-counter market also closed lower, with the NASD Securities Index falling 0.32 per cent to 4,663.18 points.

Its market capitalisation declined by 0.32 per cent to N2.80 trillion, while its year-to-date return moderated to 31.59 per cent from 32.01 per cent.

Trading activity on the OTC market strengthened, with volume rising 108.97 per cent to 1.12 million units and transaction value increasing 69.49 per cent to N10.18 million across 35 trades.

SDNITROXGAS led the gainers with a 9.07 per cent increase, while SDCSCSPLC recorded the largest decline at 11 per cent.

The Nigerian equities market therefore enters the next session with its year-to-date gain still firmly positive at 58.55 per cent, but with the latest N1.17 trillion erosion in investor wealth highlighting the volatility that can accompany the market’s strong 2026 rally.