Market Roundup: NGX Extends Losses For Second Day As N104bn Wiped Out, Naira Slips To N1,370/$
Nigeria’s equities market stayed in the red on Thursday, October 22, 2026, as profit-taking stretched into a second straight session.
The NGX All-Share Index eased 0.07% to close at 244,956.94 points, a loss of 159.55 points. Though milder than Wednesday’s 794.64-point drop, it left the benchmark 3.04% below its September 28 high of 252,635.11 points. Market capitalization fell by N103.6 billion to N159.04 trillion, dragging year-to-date return down to 57.41%.
The pullback was broad but led by large caps. NGXGROUP fell 4.69%, OANDO 4.17%, WEMABANK 3.33%, ZENITHBANK 0.41%, GTCO 0.33% and UBA 0.24%. That pushed the Banking Index down 0.16% and the Insurance Index down 0.54%. Market sentiment stayed negative with 16 gainers against 22 losers. AVACAP led the gainers, while THOMASWY led the laggards. CORNERST and INTBREW slipped below their 52-week lows, trading at N4.60 and N9.05 respectively.
Activity was stronger. Volume rose 1.87% to 360.75 million units valued at N20.32 billion across 31,401 deals. LIVESTOCK dominated volume with 40.97 million units, 11.36% of total trades, while ARADEL led value with N4.34 billion, 21.36% of the day’s value. ZENITHBANK and GTCO accounted for 9.36% and 5.81% of volume respectively.
The Proshare Memorandum Indexes were mixed – the market cap-weighted index edged up 0.04% to 1,400.08 points, while the total return float-adjusted index slipped 0.002% to 1,136.07 points.
Away from the main board, the unlisted NASD market went the other way. The NASD Securities Index rose 0.97% to 4,345.33 points, with 738,844 units valued at N6.7 million traded across 23 deals, recording two gainers and one loser.
On the corporate front, it was a quiet day for earnings. No financial statements were filed on the NGX. Coronation Infrastructure Fund released its Q3 2026 investor report for the period ended September 30, while ABC Transport published the outcome of its board meeting and notice of its AGM. First HoldCo also announced the appointment of Gwen Mwaba as Non-Executive Director.
In the currency market, the naira weakened on both windows. At the official NFEM window, it depreciated 0.72% to N1,344.40/US$1 from N1,334.72/US$1. At the parallel BDC window, it fell 0.73% to N1,370/US$1 from N1,360/US$1. The BDC-NFEM spread widened marginally to 1.90% from 1.89%.
Fixed income was steady. Overnight rate closed at 20.34% while Open Repo held at 20%.
Commodities were mixed. At AFEX, the Commodities Index plunged 11.33% to 38.88 points while the Export Index was flat at 39.18 points. Paddy rice and maize both fell 15% to N420.75 and N271.94, while soybeans eased 2.42% to N522.22. At LCFE, Eko Gold, Premium Eko Rice and Eko Rice Classic were unchanged at N140,000 per gram, N47,000 and N55,000 per 50kg bag respectively.
Globally, risk appetite was weak, with Brazil’s Bovespa the worst performer. However, oil rallied on geopolitical tension. Brent crude rose 2.32% to $111.35 per barrel and WTI rose 1.15% to $98.27 after renewed Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia stoked supply disruption fears. Gold fell 1.70% to $4,062.28 per ounce and silver dropped 3.70% to $55.46.
The focus for the next session will be whether selling in heavyweight banking stocks continues, how the Oil and Gas Index reacts to higher crude prices, more Q3 corporate filings, and whether the BDC-NFEM spread continues to widen.
