Nigerian stock market suffers major setback as investors lose N1.6 trillion amid heavy selloffs in blue-chip stocks.

The Nigerian stock market ended its recent bullish streak on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, with investors recording a loss of N1.

619 trillion due to widespread selloffs in several major and mid-cap stocks.
Heavy selling pressure in stocks including BUA Cement, CAP, E-Tranzact International, International Breweries, Deap Capital Management and 20 other equities pushed the market into negative territory.
Market capitalisation declined by 1.02 per cent, representing a drop of N1.619 trillion, to close at N159.660 trillion compared to N161.279 trillion recorded in the previous trading session.
Similarly, the All-Share Index shed 2,573.05 points, also reflecting a 1.02 per cent decline, to settle at 249,062.37 from the earlier 251,635.42 points.
The market downturn also reduced the Year-to-Date return to 60.05 per cent.
Despite the losses, market breadth closed on a positive note with 41 gainers against 25 losers.
Zichis Agro Allied Industries and ABC Transport topped the gainers’ table with 9.99 per cent appreciation each, closing at N32.04 and N8.26 per share respectively.
Ja Paul Gold gained 9.95 per cent to close at N4.09, while Livingtrust Mortgage Bank rose by 9.92 per cent to settle at N4.21 per share. FTN Cocoa Processors also appreciated by 9.91 per cent to close at N10.76 per share.
On the losers’ chart, BUA Cement recorded the highest decline of 10 per cent to close at N414 per share. CAP followed with a 9.99 per cent drop to settle at N210.35, while E-Tranzact International fell by 7.03 per cent to close at N17.20 per share.
International Breweries lost 5.38 per cent to end trading at N12.30, while Deap Capital Management declined by 4.92 per cent to close at N5.80 per share.
Trading activity also weakened during the session as total volume traded dropped by 14.74 per cent to 600.22 million shares valued at N32.72 billion exchanged in 58,958 deals.
Access Corporation recorded the highest trading volume with 55.96 million shares traded, accounting for 9.32 per cent of the total market volume.
Zenith Bank led the value chart with transactions worth N4.81 billion, representing 14.69 per cent of the total market value traded.