Stock market slides as profit-taking hits blue chip companies 

By Peter Egwuatu 

After the sustained rally recorded in the previous weeks of May 2026, profit-taking by investors last week have taken toll on the Nigerian stock market.

Analysts noted that the profit-taking was mostly in major blue chip and mid-cap companies that had paid dividends to their shareholders.

A review of activity on the Nigeria Exchange Limited, NGX, last week, showed that sell pressures on BUA Cement resulted in its share price decline by 3.5%. GTCO recorded a 1.2% decline, Dangote Sugar decline 4.4%, NASCON went down 5.4% and UACN down by 5.0% to drag the NGX All Share Index, ASI, lower by 0.24% Week-On-Week, WoW, to 249,540.75 points from 250,339.92 points the previous week.

In the same manner, another major market indicator, NGX market capitalisation shed over N366 billion to close at N260.077 trillion from N160.443 trillion in the previous week.

Consequently, the Month-to-Date, MtD and Year-to-Date, YtD   returns moderated to 3.0% and 60.4%, respectively.  

On trading activity, total volume and value traded declined by 50.2% WoW and 56.6% WoW respectively.

Across sectors, the Insurance Index declined   by -1.8%,   Industrial Goods Index -1.2% and Consumer Goods Index -0.8%, while the Banking Index inched up by 1.1% and Oil & Gas Index 0.1%.

In the international commodities market, crude oil prices fell sharply after comments from Donald Trump suggesting that negotiations with Iran had entered the final phase.  

Commenting on the future outlook, analysts at InvestData Consulting Limited, said: “The decline in crude prices eased immediate fears of prolonged supply disruption in the Middle East, although geopolitical tensions in the region continued to keep investors cautious. Concerns over global oil supply and possible disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz remain significant factors influencing energy markets. For Nigeria, movements in crude oil prices remain critical due to their impact on foreign exchange earnings, government revenue and overall macroeconomic stability. Consequently, investors in the domestic equities market are expected to continue monitoring developments in the global oil market alongside exchange rate trends and monetary policy direction.

“In the near term, the market may continue to experience mixed trading sessions as investors react to profit-taking opportunities, corporate disclosures, fixed-income market yields and global economic developments.”

For analysts at Cordros Capital, they said :”Looking ahead, we expect market activity to remain relatively subdued in the near term in the absence of a major positive catalyst to drive sentiment. Nonetheless, we do not rule out selective bargain hunting across fundamentally sound names following the recent moderation in prices.

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