The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) closed on a negative note on Friday, ending its 26-day bullish streak, as profit-taking in heavyweight stocks such as MTN Nigeria, BUA Cement, Dangote Sugar Refinery, and Nigerian Breweries wiped out ₦516 billion from the market’s value.
The week’s final trading session halted the local bourse’s record-breaking rally, pulling the year-to-date return down to 41.61%. According to NGX data, the key performance indicators slipped by 0.56% as selling pressure hit several recently appreciated medium- and large-cap stocks.
The All-Share Index declined by 814.44 points, settling at 145,754.91, while market capitalisation fell to ₦92.21 trillion from ₦92.73 trillion the previous day. Despite the drop, the market still posted a week-on-week gain of 3.18%.
Top losers for the day included MTN Nigeria (-4.17%), BUA Cement (-3.66%), Dangote Sugar (-3.66%), Honeywell Flour Mills (-6.42%), and Nigerian Breweries, alongside other key decliners across multiple sectors.
Trading activity, however, showed improvement as the total volume of shares exchanged rose by 11.74%, and total value traded increased by 18.94%. Data from Atlass Portfolio Limited revealed that 2.22 billion units of shares worth ₦32.42 billion were traded in 35,036 deals.
In terms of volume, Linkage Assurance led the chart with 26.46% of total shares traded, followed by Universal Insurance (9.63%), AIICO Insurance (8.07%), Mutual Benefits Assurance (6.23%), and Sterling Bank (5.21%). Dangote Cement topped the value chart, contributing 22.33% of the total trade value.
On the gainers’ list, Champion Breweries, Union Dicon, and Universal Insurance each rose by the maximum 10.00%, while Guinness (+9.99%), AXA Mansard (+9.99%), Cornerstone Insurance (+9.95%), Ellah Lakes (+9.93%), and UPDC (+9.87%) also recorded strong advances.
Twenty-nine stocks closed lower, with Abbey Mortgage Bank leading the losers at -9.87%, followed by Custodian Investment (-8.48%), Honeywell Flour Mills (-6.42%), MTN Nigeria (-4.17%), BUA Cement (-3.66%), and Livestock Feeds (-1.11%).
Market breadth remained positive, with 41 gainers against 29 losers. Sectoral performance was also largely upbeat — the insurance index surged 6.11%, oil and gas rose 0.38%, and banking gained 0.19%. In contrast, the industrial goods sector dropped 1.54%, while consumer goods edged down by 0.02%.
