The Nigerian equities market closed lower on Friday, May 15, 2026, extending losses from the previous trading session as profit-taking activities continued to pressure major equities across key sectors.
The benchmark NGX All-Share Index (ASI) was down by 0.76% to close at 250,330.92 points, from 252,243.11 points recorded in the prior session.
Market capitalisation declined by N1.23trn, while the year-to-date (YTD) return weakened to 60.87%, reflecting a temporary slowdown in bullish investor sentiment.
The negative performance was driven by selloffs in large and mid-cap stocks, like TIP (-9.90%), ARADEL (-8.69%), NB (-6.51%), NAHCO (-5.53%), PZ (-3.39%), FIRSTHOLDCO (-2.51%), CADBURY (-2.14%), MTNN (-1.80%), UNILEVER (-1.16%), ZENITHBANK (-0.85%), WAPCO (-0.62%), GTCO (-0.48%), and 16 others.
Despite the market’s bearish close, market breadth remained positive as 47 gainers outperformed 28 decliners. ABCTRANS and MAYBAKER topped the gainers’ chart, while ZICHIS led the decliners.
Also, MAYBAKER, EUNISELL, BERGER, LEARNAFRCA, and FIDSON traded above their 52-week highs at N47.30, N191.90, N168.95, N10.85, and N136.50, respectively.
The Proshare Memorandum Indexes closed bearish, with the market cap-weighted index down 0.11% to 1,551.06 points from 1,552.82 points in the previous session, while the total return float-adjusted index was down 0.38% to 1,066.29 points from 1,070.35 points.Stocks & Bonds
Volume and Value Contribution
Market activity was up for the day, with total volume traded increasing 4.28% to 1.08bn, valued at N44.29bn across 65,744 deals. CHAMS recorded the highest volume with 328.50m units traded, accounting for 30.30% of the day’s volume, while ARADEL recorded the highest value at N9.44bn, accounting for 21.32% of the value traded for the day.
UBA and FIRSTHOLDCO accounted for 5.68% and 5.41% of total volume, respectively, while NGXGROUP and FIRSTHOLDCO followed ARADEL in traded value.
NASD OTC Exchange – Unlisted Equities
Conversely, the unlisted NASD Securities Index (NSI) closed bullish on Friday, up 1.41% to 4,188.41 points from 4,130.21 points on Thursday.
The total volume traded advanced to 1.17m valued at N29.56m, across 24 deals.
At the close of trading, the NASD OTC recorded four (4) gainers.
Commodities Market
AFEX Commodity Prices
At the AFEX Commodity prices on Friday, sorghum increased slightly by 0.01% to N407.13, while maize and soybeans fell 15.00% and 2.35%, respectively, to close at N269.71 and N731.51. Click here to access more data on AFEX commodity prices.
LCFE Commodity Price(s)
Eko Gold, Premium Eko Rice, and Eko Rice Classic prices at the Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE) remained unchanged on Friday, closing at N140,000.00 per gram, N50,000.00 per 50kg, and N55,000 per 50kg, respectively.
Global Commodity Prices
In the global commodity market, Gold and Silver decreased 2.76% and 9.58%, respectively, to close at US$4,548.05 and US$76.61.
Brent and WTI crude futures climbed 2.52% and 2.79%, respectively, to close at US$108.38 and US$103.99 as of 02:16 PM GMT on Friday after comments from U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran’s foreign minister further dented hopes of a deal to end ship attacks and seizures around the Strait of Hormuz.
Currency / FX Market
The average BDC rate depreciated 0.36% from N1,395/USD to N1,400/USD, while the NFEM rate depreciated slightly by 0.01% from N1,370.89/USD to N1,371.04/USD. For updates on the Nigerian FX Market.
Source: NGX, Proshare