Stock Market Sustains Downward Trend, Drops by N3.54tn in Three Days

The Nigerian stock market is in a sustained downward trend, shedding N3.54 trillion over three consecutive trading days. The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) has seen significant profit-taking by investors in highly capitalized stocks, impacting overall returns.

Market capitalization closed at N160.422 trillion on August 10, 2026, but depreciated by 2.21%, or N3.54 trillion, to N156.881 trillion by August 13, 2026. Similarly, the NGX All Share Index dropped by 2.27%, from 248,529.75 basis points to 243,017.38 basis points during the same period. This has resulted in Month-to-Date returns of -0.9% and Year-to-Date returns of +56.2%.

On Thursday, August 13, the market lost N613 billion due to profit-taking in stocks such as HBM Nigeria Plc, which dipped by 4.6%, and Unilever Nigeria Plc, down by 10%. This decline contributed to a 0.39% decrease in the NGX All-Share Index. Sectoral performance was largely negative, with the Consumer Goods, Insurance, Banking, and Oil & Gas indices declining.

The downturn accelerated on Wednesday, August 12, when investors lost N1.76 trillion as profit-taking and renewed selling pressure caused a broad market decline. Large and medium-capitalized stocks like BUA Foods, Unilever Nigeria, HBM Nigeria, UACN, and Zenith Bank experienced price depreciation. BUA Foods' stock price fell by 10%.

Earlier in the week, on Tuesday, August 11, losses in MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN) Plc and 25 other stocks caused the market capitalization to drop by N1.17 trillion. MTNN's stock price depreciated by 4.73%. This followed a positive opening on Monday, August 10, when the market crossed the N160 trillion mark, driven by renewed buying interest in Airtel Africa Plc, which gained 8.59%.