Stock market investors lose N544bn on sixth consecutive bearish session

Trading on the Nigerian stock market closed on a negative performance on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, shedding N544 billion as the downturn extended into its sixth consecutive bearish session.

The decline was driven by increased sell-offs, particularly in Red Star Express, Trans-Nationwide Express, Meyer, Chellaram, Fortis Global Insurance, and 32 other stocks.

Market capitalisation fell from N156.517 trillion to N155.973 trillion, representing 0.35 per cent decline at the close of trading.

The All-Share Index also dropped by 0.35 per cent, sliding by 843.42 points to finish at 242,454.65 down from 241,611.23 recorded on Monday.

Year-to-Date return moderated to 55.26 per cent, while market breadth closed negative, with 37 losers against 22 gainers.

Red Star Express led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent, closing at N16.20, Trans-Nationwide Express followed by 9.94 per cent, settling at N2.81, and Meyer declined by 9.88 per cent, ending the session at N15.05 per share.

While Chellaram dropped by 9.77 per cent, finishing at N9.70, Fortis Global Insurance dipped by 9.70 per cent, closing at N2.14 per share.

Conversely, Haldane McCall led the gainers’ chart by 9.97 per cent, ending the session at 3.20, Veritas Kapital Assurance trailed by 7.09 per cent, finishing at N1.36, while Tantalizer advanced by 5.26 per cent, settling at N4 per share.

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RT Briscoe increased by 4.31 per cent, closing at N10.90, and Regency Alliance Insurance grew by 3.66 per cent, finishing at 85k per share.

Analysis of the market activity revealed an improvement in the market value with decline in the market volume and deals as 429.84 million shares worth N27.48 billion were traded in 35,683 transactions.

This was compared with 1.33 billion shares valued at N22.93 billion that was exchanged across 45,494 deals recorded on Monday.

Sterling Nigeria recorded the highest trading volume with 51.57 million shares, representing 12 per cent of the day’s total volume.

MTN Nigeria led in value with N9.76 billion, accounting for 35.50 per cent of the total value traded.