Nigerian equities market trades bearish post eid-el-fitr

Following the Eid-el-Fitr public holiday on Monday, March 23, 2026, the Nigerian equities market resumed trading on a bearish note.

The downturn was largely driven by investor profit-taking and selloffs across several heavyweight stocks, leading to a noticeable dip in the primary market indicators.

The benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 1.07%, settling at 199,014.02 points, down from the 201,156.85 points recorded in the previous session. Consequently, the overall market capitalisation decreased to N127.75 trillion, while the ASI year-to-date (YTD) return eased to 27.89%, reflecting post-holiday market corrections.

Despite the bearish index performance, the underlying market breadth actually closed bullish, recording 43 gainers against 23 decliners.

The primary driver of the index's decline was the concentrated selloff in large-cap equities.
Major market movers facing downward pressure included GTCO (-8.18%), NB (-7.29%), and MTNN (-6.46%). Other prominent decliners were WEMABANK (-3.33%), ZENITHBANK (-2.27%), UBA (-0.72%), and 17 other equities.

On the positive side, PRESCO topped the gainers’ chart, while CONHALLPLC led the decliners. Showing strong individual momentum, both JOHNHOLT and PREMPAINTS traded above their 52-week highs, reaching N13.00 and N25.65, respectively.

Overall market activity experienced a sharp contraction for the day. The total trading volume plummeted by 86.00% to 848.84 million units, culminating in a total traded value of N53.34 billion executed across 139,458 deals.