MTN Nigeria leads traded value as NGX closes lower for second day

The Nigerian stock market closed negative for the second straight session on Friday, August 14, 2026, as profit-taking in heavyweight stocks wiped N257 billion off investor wealth. The NGX All-Share Index fell 0.16% to 242,619.20 points from 243,017.38 points on Thursday.

Market capitalisation dropped by approximately N257.06 billion, while the year-to-date return moderated to 55.91%. Market breadth was negative, with 30 stocks recording losses against 21 gainers.

Heavyweights lead the decline

Dangote Sugar Refinery, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Nigerian Breweries, Fidelity Bank, NEM Insurance, UBA, and Wema Bank were the major decliners. Dangote Sugar fell from N70.00 to N64.55, losing N5.45 or 7.79%. RT Briscoe shed N1.00 to close at N11.60, down 7.94%.

FTG Insurance led the losers' chart, dropping from N2.90 to N2.63, a loss of N0.27 or 9.31%. Omatek declined by 9.04% to N1.51, while John Holt fell 9.00% to N9.10.

Gainers and trading activity

IntEnEgIns rose from N4.84 to N5.32, gaining N0.48 or 9.92%. Transnational Express advanced by 9.65% to N2.84, and Guinea Insurance gained 6.67% to N0.80. Regal Insurance added 6.25% to close at N0.85, while Japaul Gold rose 5.36% to N2.95.

MTN Nigeria recorded 44.59 million shares worth N31.37 billion, the highest traded value on the day. FTG Insurance led the volume chart with 874.08 million shares valued at N2.37 billion. Cornerstone Insurance traded 100.29 million shares worth N506.53 million, while Universal Insurance posted 56.73 million shares valued at N44.46 million. Sterling Financial Holdings Company traded 53.25 million shares worth N402.87 million.

Weekly turnover rises

Total turnover on the Nigerian Exchange during the week stood at 4.607 billion shares valued at N130.636 billion in 263,439 deals, up from 4.164 billion shares worth N94.026 billion traded in 248,254 deals in the previous week.

The Financial Services industry led activity by volume, with 3.126 billion shares valued at N47.225 billion exchanged in 94,186 deals. The sector accounted for 67.84% of total equity turnover volume and 36.15% of total value.

For investors, the second consecutive negative close trims some of the strong year-to-date gains, though the market remains significantly up in 2026. Profit-taking in blue-chip stocks suggests caution at current levels, with market watchers looking to next week for direction.