The Nigerian Exchange experienced a downturn on March 18, 2026, with the All-Share Index shedding 1,402.7 points to settle at 201,156.8. This represents a 0.69% decline from the previous close of 202,559.6, pushing the index below the 202,000 level and indicating weakening market momentum.

Despite the overall market decline, trading activity saw a sharp increase. Total volume rose to 6.06 billion shares, a substantial jump from 1.7 billion shares recorded previously. This surge was largely driven by heavy transactions in Etranzact.

Market capitalisation also saw a dip, closing at N129.1 trillion across 58,562 deals, down from N130 trillion in the prior session.

Market sentiment weakened on March 18, 2026, consequently trimming the Nigerian market’s year-to-date return to 29.27%. Investors continued to rotate positions across selected equities.

Sector Performance and Key Movers

Secure Electronic Technology and Guinness Nigeria led the gainers' chart, each advancing by 10.00% and 9.92% respectively. These gains suggest pockets of buying interest despite the broader market softness.

Conversely, Red Star Express and Aradel experienced profit-taking pressures, declining by 9.98% and 9.68% respectively.

In terms of trading volume, Etranzact recorded the highest activity with 5.1 billion shares traded. Wema Bank followed with 111.3 million shares, and Coronation Insurance traded 96.4 million shares.

Dangote Cement saw 75.2 million shares traded, while Access Holdings followed with 61.4 million shares, indicating sustained interest in large-cap stocks.

By market value, Dangote Cement led with N56.4 billion. Etranzact followed with N24.2 billion, MTN Nigeria with N6.9 billion, Nestlé Nigeria with N6.7 billion, and Zenith Bank with N6 billion.

Top 5 Gainers

• Secure Electronic Technology — up 10.00% to N1.32
• Guinness Nigeria — up 9.92% to N423.20
• John Holt — up 9.72% to N11.85
• Sovereign Trust Insurance — up 9.57% to N2.06
• Linkage Assurance — up 9.33% to N1.64

Top 5 Losers

• Red Star Express — down 9.98% to N25.70
• Aradel — down 9.68% to N1,210.30
• Presco — down 9.30% to N1,701.10
• LivingTrust Mortgage Bank — down 8.40% to N4.80
• DAAR Communications — down 7.50% to N1.85

SWOOTs and FUGAZ Performance

Among SWOOTs (stocks with market capitalisations above N1 trillion), performance was largely negative. Aradel was down 9.68%, Wema Bank shed 2.35%, Nigerian Breweries fell 0.66%, and MTN declined 0.26%.

On the positive side within SWOOTs, Lafarge gained 3.42%, while International Breweries recorded a modest increase of 0.36%.

Within the FUGAZ banking group, First Holdco posted a gain of 1.92%, emerging as the sole gainer during the session. Conversely, GTCO declined by 7.41%, UBA fell by 4.22%, and Zenith Bank slipped by 1.03%, reflecting broader selling pressure in the sector.