Profit-taking dominated trading activity on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) last week, with investors losing approximately N2.83 trillion.

The selloff came amid a sustained pressure driven by the U.S.-Nigeria diplomatic row and year-end portfolio rebalancing by institutional investors.

The NGX All-Share Index (ASI) fell by 2.99 per cent week-on-week, closing at 149,524.81 points, while market capitalisation dipped to N94.99 trillion, representing a 2.89 per cent contraction in investors’ wealth over five trading sessions.

Despite the downturn, the market maintained a robust year-to-date (YTD) gain of 45.27 per cent, reflecting underlying resilience in the face of heightened macroeconomic and political volatility.

Market sentiment remained broadly bearish, as evidenced by a market breadth of 0.27x, with 20 gainers against 75 losers. This sharp imbalance underscored the depth of selloffs across sectors and the cautious stance adopted by investors.

Sectoral performance painted a uniformly negative picture, as all major indices closed lower. The banking Index led the laggards with a 3.85 per cent weekly loss, pressured by heavy selloffs in tier-one banking stocks.

The insurance index followed with a sharp 7.56 per cent decline, while the Consumer Goods as well as oil and gas indices retreated by 2.54 per cent and 4.8 per cent, respectively.

The industrial goods and commodity indices also ended lower, down 1.09 per cent and 1.63 per cent, respectively, rounding off a week of broad-based weakness across the equities landscape.

Selective bargain hunting provided some relief to a handful of stocks despite the overall market downturn. NCR emerged as the top gainer for the week, appreciating by 20.9 per cent, while Eunisell followed closely with a 20.2 per cent advance, driven by renewed investor interest and improved liquidity.

Other notable performers included Union Dicon, which rose by 9.9 per cent, Honeywell Flour Mills, up 9.5 per cent, and UPDC, which gained 6.8 per cent on the back of renewed buying momentum and attractive entry valuations.

Several stocks suffered steep losses amid sustained sell pressure and weakening investor confidence. Sovereign Insurance led the decliners, plunging by 28.2 per cent, followed by C&I Leasing, which fell 20.2 per cent.

Skyway Aviation Handling Company declined by 19 per cent, while Berger Paints and International Energy Insurance shed 17.4 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively, reflecting a broad-based bearish sentiment across both retail and institutional segments of the market.

Meanwhile, the naira came under renewed pressure during the week, losing 1.03 per cent week-on-week to close at N1,436.58 per dollar in the official foreign exchange window, despite sustained intervention efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stabilise the market.

In contrast, the local currency appreciated by 2.83 per cent in the parallel market to about N1,450 per dollar, reflecting the persistent tug-of-war between CBN’s supply support and strong demand pressure from importers, investors and other FX users.