Kayode Tokede
The stock market section of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) has continued its downward trend, dropping by N3.54 trillion in its third consecutive day trading activities.
The market that opened for trading early this week on a positive note has witnessed massive profit-taking by investors in highly capitalised stocks and the impact has continued to downsize investors’ returns.
Specifically, the market capitalisation that closed for trading August 10, 2026 (Monday) at N160.422 trillion, has depreciated by N3.54 trillion or 2.21per cent to close August 13, 2026 (Thursday) at N156.881 trillion.
The NGX All Share Index closed for trading August 13, 2026 at 243,017.38 basis points, dropping by 5,512.37 basis points or 2.27 per cent from 248,529.75 basis points when the stock market closed for trading August 10, 2026.
Consequently, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled at -0.9 per cent and +56.2per cent, respectively.
The breakdown by THISDAY showed that the stock market on Thursday dropped by N613 billion on investors’ profit-taking in HBM Nigeria Plc, Unilever Nigeria Plc and 39 others.
HBM Nigeria dipped by 4.6 per cent, and Unilever Nigeria was down by 10 per cent to lead to a 949.71 basis points or 0.39per cent decrease in the NGX All-Share Index to 243,017.38 basis points.
The sectoral performance on Thursday was negative as the NGX Consumer Goods (-1.2per cent), NGX Insurance (-0.6per cent), NGX Banking (-0.3per cent) and NGX Oil & Gas (-0.1per cent) indices declined, while the NGX Industrial Goods Index closed flat.
On Wednesday, investors lost N1.76 trillion as profit taking and renewed selling pressure triggered a broad market decline, while the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) lost 2,756.48 basis points or 1.12 per cent to close at 243,967.09 basis points.
The downturn was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are; BUA Foods, Unilever Nigeria, HBM Nigeria, UACN and Zenith Bank.
The stock price of BUA Foods dropped by 10 per cent or N84.50 per share to close at N760.60 per share.
On Tuesday, the stock market closed the trading session on a bearish note, as losses in MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN) Plc and 25 others caused the overall capitalisation to close lower by N1.17 trillion.
The stock price of the telecommunication company depreciated by 4.73per cent or N40 per share to close at N805.00 per share on NGX. As a result, the NGX ASI declined by 1,806.18 basis points or 0.73 per cent, to close at 246,723.57 basis points.
Recall that the stock market on Monday had crossed the N160trillion mark over renewed buying interest in Airtel Africa Plc.
As the stock price of Airtel Africa gained 8.59per cent, the market capitalisation value gained N1.91 trillion or 1.2 per cent to close at N160.422 trillion from N158.513 trillion it opened for trading.
Looking ahead, a group of analysts at Cowry Assets Management Limited said, the market is expected to sustain its bearish trend as investor sentiment tilts increasingly negative, though residual optimism could spark a recovery driven by portfolio readjustment and strategic repositioning.