Stock market closes week bearish as investors lose N444bn

Trading on the Nigerian stock market closed bearish on Friday, August 21, 2026, ending the week with a N444 billion loss for investors.

Extended profit-taking in large and mid-cap stocks pushed the market further into negative territory, extending the bearish trend to the ninth consecutive session.

Market capitalisation declined from N154.977 trillion to N154.533 trillion, representing a 0.29 per cent or N444 billion loss.

The All-Share Index (ASI) also fell by 686.64 points, from 240,037.80 to 239,351.16, representing a decline of 0.29 per cent.

While the market’s Year-To-Date (YTD) return moderated to 53.81 per cent, the market breadth closed negatively with 26 losers and 22 gainers.

International Energy Insurance led the losers’ table by 10 per cent, finishing at N3.87, Omatek Ventures followed by 9.55 per cent, settling at N1.42, while Mc Nicholas dipped by 6.73 per cent, ending the session at N4.85 per share.

UPDC declined by 5 63 per cent, closing at N3.35, and WAPIC fell by 5.45 per cent, settling at N2.08 per share.

Naira trades N1,346/$ at official market

Conversely, RT Briscoe led the gainers’ chart by 9.63 per cent ending the session at N11.95 per cent, Fortis Global Insurance trailed by 8.11 per cent, closing at N2, while Trans-Nationwide Express increased by 7.84 per cent, finishing at N3.30 per share.

Meyer climbed by 5.98 per cent, settling at N15.95, and Aradel grew by 5.71 per cent, closing at N1,374.20 per share.

Market activity weakened during the session, with total volume traded falling by 85.49 per cent to 416.67 million shares, valued at N35.63 billion and executed in 36,324 deals.

Sterling Nigeria led trading volume with 47.75 million shares, representing 11.46 per cent of the day’s total volume, while Seplat dominated value traded at N8.43 billion, accounting for 23.66 per cent of the total value.