Nigeria’s stock market suffers biggest monthly loss in history, sheds N13.3 trillion in June

Nigeria’s stock market suffers biggest monthly loss in history, sheds N13.3 trillion in June

Nigeria’s stock market suffered its worst month on record in June 2026 after investors wiped N13.29 trillion off the value of listed equities in a broad-based selloff that ended one of the strongest rallies in the market’s history.

An analysis by Nairametrics shows the June decline is the largest monthly destruction of shareholder value ever recorded on the Nigerian Exchange, easily surpassing previous records as profit-taking, dividend adjustments and portfolio rebalancing triggered heavy selling across virtually every sector.

The benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) declined 8.28% during the month, its biggest monthly drop since President Bola Tinubu assumed office, while year-to-date gains narrowed sharply from over 60% at the end of May to 47.43%.

The Nigerian Exchange entered June riding extraordinary momentum.

Market capitalization stood at N160.5 trillion after a blistering five-month rally that had added roughly N60 trillion in value, with the All-Share Index posting gains of more than 60% for the year.

Warning signs emerged in May, when market breadth weakened despite the NGX still managing a modest 3.24% gain for the month.

Those cracks widened significantly in June as sustained selling pressure accelerated throughout the month, with several trading weeks recording market capitalization losses exceeding N4 trillion.

Unlike previous corrections that were concentrated in a handful of sectors, June’s decline was remarkably broad.

All 20 NGX indices tracked by Nairametrics finished the month lower, including the benchmark All-Share Index, NGX 30 Index and NGX Premium Index, many of which recorded double-digit declines.

The breadth of the losses suggests investors were reducing exposure across the market rather than rotating into defensive sectors.

In percentage terms, June’s 8.28% decline is not Nigeria’s worst monthly market correction.

However, the size of today’s market makes June 2026 unprecedented in value terms.

Before this month, the largest monthly market capitalization decline recorded by Nairametrics was N6.5 trillion in November 2025. June’s N13.29 trillion loss more than doubled the previous record.

The correction was concentrated among Nigeria’s biggest companies.

The impact was even more pronounced among the market’s SWOOTs (Stocks Worth Over One Trillion Naira).

Without that gain, June’s overall market losses could have approached N16 trillion, highlighting just how severe the selloff was across most large-cap names.

The June correction represents the biggest blemish so far in what has otherwise been one of the strongest equity market performances under President Bola Tinubu.

Since the administration’s economic reforms began, the Nigerian stock market has enjoyed an extraordinary re-rating, with market capitalization still more than N40 trillion higher than at the beginning of the year despite June’s losses.

The market also closed the second quarter with an overall gain of roughly 15%, underscoring that the broader uptrend remains intact even after the sharp correction.

Whether June proves to be a healthy correction or the beginning of a more prolonged bearish phase will depend largely on corporate earnings, domestic liquidity, monetary policy and the return of foreign portfolio investors during the second half of the year.

Nairametrics previously identified several factors behind the June selloff.

The global index provider said it wants additional time to assess how Nigeria’s migration to a T+1 settlement cycle affects international institutional investors before making a final decision, leaving the country’s return to a major global benchmark temporarily on hold.