The Nigerian stock market closed lower on August 19, 2025, losing 2,109.00 points to end the day in negative territory.
Tracked by the All-Share Index, the market fell by 1.46% to 142,613.47, compared to 144,722.50 in the previous session.
Daily activity also slowed, with volume easing to 1.02 billion shares, down from 1.05 billion shares traded a day earlier.
Market capitalization declined to N90.2 trillion across 34,352 deals, slipping from the N91 trillion level it held at the start of the week.
Top gainers were ENAMELWARE, up 9.95%, and DAAR COMMUNICATIONS, which rose 9.82%.
On the flip side, ROYAL EXCHANGE and DANGOTE CEMENT fell by 10.00% and 9.88%, respectively.
In terms of volume, UNIVERSAL INSURANCE and AIICO Insurance were the most actively traded stocks of the day.
Market summary
- Current ASI: 142,613.47
- Previous ASI: 144,722.5
- Day Change: -1.46%
- Year-to-Date Performance: +38.56%
- Volume Traded: 1.02 billion shares
- Market Cap: N90.2 trillion
Top 5 gainers
- ENAMELWA: Up 9.95% to N35.90
- DAARCOMM: Up 9.82% to N1.23
- DEAPCAP: Up 9.60% to N1.94
- ACADEMY: Up 8.43% to N9.00
- INTBREW: Up 6.95% to N13.85
Top 5 losers
- ROYALEX: Down 10.00% to N2.52
- DANGCEM: Down 9.88% to N520.00
- RTBRISCOE: Down 9.87% to N3.56
- JAIZBANK: Down 9.81% to N4.32
- LASACO: Down 9.77% to N3.60
Trading volume
Market activity softened as daily volume slipped to 1.02 billion shares, down from 1.05 billion shares recorded in the previous session.
- UNIVINSURE topped the chart with a hefty 130.2 million shares exchanged.
- AIICO followed closely with 100.1 million shares, showing sustained investor appetite.
- MBENEFIT ranked third with 68.5 million shares.
- PRESTIGE and REGALINS completed the top five with 66.8 million and 46.1 million shares, respectively.
Trading value
- Nigerian Breweries (NB) led with trades worth N2.1 billion.
- Dangote Cement (DANGCEM) followed at N1.3 billion, while Access Holdings (ACCESSCORP) recorded N1.04 billion.
- Zenith Bank (ZENITHBANK) posted N894 million, and Dangote Sugar (DANGSUGAR) rounded out the top five with N765.9 million.
SWOOT & FUGAZ performance
The SWOOTs (Stocks Worth Over One Trillion Naira) delivered a mixed outing:
- INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES gained 6.95%, FIDELITY BANK rose 0.97%, while LAFARGE AFRICA edged up 0.04%.
- On the downside, DANGOTE CEMENT shed 9.88%, and NIGERIAN BREWERIES slipped 2.10%.
For the FUGAZ banks:
- UBA managed a slim 0.10% uptick.
Losses were seen in Zenith Bank (-7.26%), GTCO (-2.06%), and Access Holdings (-0.18%).
Market outlook
The market has entered a retracement phase, with the index likely to dip below 142,000 and possibly 141,000 if the bearish momentum continues.
Further weakness in large-cap stocks could deepen the overall market decline.
