NGX suffers largest single-day loss of 2026

…As profit-taking erases N3.64tn in investor wealth 

The Nigerian equities market closed sharply lower on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, reversing the gains recorded over the previous two trading sessions as widespread profit-taking across major stocks outweighed pockets of buying interest.

The benchmark NGX All-Share Index (ASI) plunged by 2.35% to close at 235,074.54 points, compared with 240,743.19 points recorded in the previous trading session. The sell-off wiped out N3.64 trillion in investor wealth, marking the largest single-day decline in market capitalisation recorded so far in 2026. As a result, the market’s year-to-date (YTD) return moderated to 51.06%.

The decline was driven by significant profit-taking in several large-cap and mid-cap stocks that had previously underpinned the market’s recent advance, including BUACEMENT (-10.00%), DANGCEM (-10.00%), GEREGU (-10.00%), CUSTODIAN (-9.97%), TIP (-3.45%), OANDO (-3.00%), ZENITHBANK (-2.88%), WEMABANK (-2.76%), NB (-0.95%), DANGSUGAR (-0.91%), UBA (-0.50%), and 27 other equities.

Market breadth weakened markedly, with 38 decliners outstripping 17 gainers, reflecting broad-based selling pressure across sectors. The sharp reversal indicates that investors moved to secure profits following the recent rally, particularly in heavily weighted counters, which contributed to the market’s steepest daily correction of the year. SKYAVN topped the gainers’ chart and traded above its 52-week high of N164.95 at N171.20, while BUACEMENT and DANGCEM led the losers’ table. GEREGU, meanwhile, traded below its 52-week low of N1,019.30 at N917.40.

The Proshare Memorandum Indexes also closed in negative territory. The market capitalisation-weighted index fell by 4.44% to 1,358.93 points from 1,422.01 points in the previous session, while the total return float-adjusted index declined by 1.98% to 947.01 points from 966.13 points.

Market activity weakened during the session as total traded volume fell by 13.60% to 488.08 million shares, with transactions valued at N20.93 billion across 46,239 deals. FIRSTHOLDCO recorded the highest trading volume with 57.39 million shares, accounting for 11.76% of the day’s total volume. GEREGU posted the highest traded value at N3.67 billion, representing 17.55% of total market value traded.

CHAMS and ACCESSCORP accounted for 8.67% and 7.39% of total traded volume respectively, while FIRSTHOLDCO and MTNN followed GEREGU in terms of traded value, underscoring their significant contribution to overall market turnover during the session.