Nigerian Stock Market Begins New Week With N80.81bn Loss
- The Nigerian stock market kicked off the new week on a low note as investors engaged in profit-taking
- Sell-offs were experienced in the banking, consumer goods, industrial, and insurance sectors
- Oando Plc, UPL Plc, and Deap Capital Management & Trust Plc led the gainers table
Legit.ng journalist, Dave Ibemere, has more than 10 years of experience in business journalism and has in-depth knowledge of the Nigerian economy, stocks, and general market trends.
The Nigerian stock market lost for the first trading session of the week on Monday, May 18, 2026.
Available data from the Nigerian Exchange showed that the market shed weight due to sell-offs in the banking, consumer goods, industrial and insurance counters, although there was also buying interest in certain stocks.
Source: Getty Images
Year-to-date, the market now shows an increase of 60.79%.
During the trading session, the NGX All-Share Index closed lower at 250,204.83 points, down from 250,330.92 points at the market close of the last trading session.
Market capitalisation closed lower at N75.63 trillion compared to N75.71 trillion at which the market opened on the session, indicating a loss of N80.81 billion.
The trading session showed mixed results across sectors as a significant sell-off was recorded in large-cap and mid-cap stocks across the board.
Top losers
- African Prudential Plc was down by 7.05%.
- TIP Plc lost 6.19%.
- Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc was down by 5.38%
- UAC of Nigeria Plc dipped 4.98%.
- Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc closed 2.75% lower.
Top gainers
- Oando Plc traded 10.00% higher.
- UPL Plc gained 10.00%.
- Deap Capital Management & Trust Plc climbed 9.96% higher.
- May & Baker Nigeria Plc appreciated 9.94%.
- Transnational Express Plc was up by 9.92%.
Most active stocks
A total of 800,460,333 traded volumes were executed in the market, and it was valued at N37.05 billion across 87,096 trades, BusinessDay reports.
- United Bank for Africa Plc topped the traded volumes with 64.97 million shares.
- Fidelity Bank Plc recorded 57.29 million shares.
- Access Holdings Plc was down by 42.26 million shares.
- DAAR Communications Plc was down by 36.70 million shares.
- NSL Technologies Plc traded 36.60 million shares.
Source: Getty Images
Expert speaks
Analysts at Atlass Portfolio Limited are optimistic despite the poor trading start for the week.
Atlass said:
"This week, we expect mixed trading sentiment to continue, with a mild positive bias, driven by bargain hunting in fundamentally sound equities, alongside profit-taking in recently appreciated medium and blue-chip stocks."
Femi Otedola boosts First Holdco stake
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the Chairman of First HoldCo Plc, Femi Otedola, has strengthened his position in the company after acquiring 549.5 million. about N43.41 billion.
According to the disclosure, the shares were bought on May 13, 2026, at N79 per share. The filing showed that a total of 549,535,653 ordinary shares were involved in the deal.
The purchase was carried out through Calvados Global Services Limited, a company linked to Otedola, who remains a major shareholder and chairman of the financial institution.
Source: Legit.ng
