Investor activity on the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX, surged on the week ended 14th August 2026 as total turnover more than doubled.
According to the NGX Weekly Market Report for that week, a total of 12,153,227,881 shares valued at ₦176.058 billion were traded in 224,146 deals. This represents a 126.7 percent increase in volume, a 26.6 percent increase in value, and a 50.1 percent increase in deals compared to the 5,359,512,965 shares worth ₦139.053 billion traded in 261,869 deals in the previous week.
Trading was dominated by the Financial Services sector, which accounted for 11,212,013,876 shares worth ₦88.991 billion. This represented 92.25 percent of total volume and 50.56 percent of total value traded during the week.
Insurance stocks led activity. Fortis Global Insurance Plc, Cornerstone Insurance Plc, and Consolidated Hallmark Holdings Plc were the three most traded equities by volume. The three stocks jointly traded 9.48 billion shares and accounted for 78. 07 percent of total market equity turnover for the week.
Despite the surge in activity, the market closed in the red. The NGX All-Share Index depreciated by 1.20 percent to close at 242,619.20 points from 245,573.60 points recorded in the previous week. Consequently, market capitalization declined by 1.19 percent to ₦156.624 trillion from ₦158.513 trillion.
Market breadth was negative as 59 equities recorded price declines compared to the previous week when 63 equities depreciated while 26 equities advanced, the same as the previous week.
On the losers’ chart, Ava Capital Plc led decliners with a 34.55 percent drop. It was followed by Unilever Nigeria Plc which declined 18.94 percent, and Zichis Agro Limited which fell 15.08 percent.
On the gainers’ side, Transnationwide Express Plc gained 32.09 percent, International Energy Insurance Plc rose 31.68 percent, and Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc added 13.77 percent as top gainers.
Analysts attributed the mixed performance to a rotation into financial services and insurance sectors, while consumer-facing stocks came under pressure from inflation and weak consumer demand.