Nigerian Exchange — NGX ASI Falls 1.44% for May 11-15 Week as Transport Mid-Caps Hit 10%
The NGX ASI fell 1.44% in the week of May 11-15, 2026, even as advancers beat decliners 41 to 30. Transport names posted multiple 10% gains, while Aradel Holdings led turnover at NGN 8.02 billion and dropped 7.7%.
|7 min read
The Nigerian Exchange delivered a split-screen week from May 11 to May 15, 2026: the NGX ASI fell 1.44% to 1,679.04 by Friday, yet market breadth stayed positive at 41 gainers, 30 losers, and 9 unchanged. That divergence matters, because it shows the index was dragged lower by a handful of heavier names rather than by a broad-based selloff across the market. The clearest example was Aradel Holdings, which dropped 7.7% to NGN 1,855.0 while posting the week’s largest traded value at NGN 8.02 billion. At the other end of the market, transport and mid-cap names surged, with ABCTRANS, SCOA, and TRANSEXPR all rising 10.0%. In other words, this was a week when the headline index weakened, but risk appetite did not disappear; it simply rotated.
- USD/NGN: 1,367.25, with the naira up 0.20% on the week
Market context: why the NGX all share index fell despite more winners than losers
For anyone tracking NGX today, the week was a reminder that breadth and index direction are not the same thing. With 80 active stocks and more advancers than decliners, the market’s internal tone was healthier than the benchmark suggested. But the NGX all share index is still heavily influenced by larger counters, so weakness in a few liquid names outweighed gains across smaller stocks. Turnover data reinforces that point. Aradel led with NGN 8.02 billion, followed by NGXGROUP at NGN 6.57 billion with a modest 0.3% gain, FIRSTHOLDCO at NGN 4.07 billion with a 0.8% decline, UBA at NGN 2.43 billion with a 0.7% rise, and GTCO at NGN 2.26 billion with a 0.1% dip. The concentration of trading in a few large names meant the benchmark remained vulnerable even as money moved aggressively into smaller counters. Global macro also mattered. Brent crude rose 4.5% over the week to $108.85 per barrel, while USD/NGN eased 0.20% to 1,367.25, implying a slightly firmer naira. For Nigeria, those are not abstract numbers. Higher oil prices can improve the country’s external earnings outlook, while a steadier naira reduces some of the FX translation pressure that has distorted corporate earnings since the exchange-rate unification of 2023. That combination should, in theory, support sentiment. But this week showed that even supportive macro can coexist with profit-taking in heavyweight energy names.
Transport mid-caps stole the show
The main story in the Nigeria stock market analysis was the sharp rally in transport and mid-cap stocks. ABCTRANS climbed 10.0% to NGN 6.27, TRANSEXPR gained 10.0% to NGN 7.06, and SCOA rose 10.0% to NGN 33.05. Those moves were too clustered to dismiss as random noise. They point to a market still willing to chase tactical upside in smaller names, especially where free float is limited and momentum can build quickly. Why did this pocket of the market outperform while the benchmark fell 1.44%? First, local investors continue to search for catch-up trades outside the biggest names, many of which already rerated strongly through 2024 and 2025. Second, the slight improvement in the naira this week likely helped sentiment toward domestically geared stocks. Third, the steady flow of rights issues, placements, and listings is reinforcing the idea that 2026 remains a year of active balance-sheet repositioning, which often channels speculative interest into mid-caps. The winners’ board was broader than transport alone. EUNISELL added 9.7% to NGN 191.9, Berger Paints rose 9.7% to NGN 168.95, Learn Africa gained 9.6% to NGN 10.85, Prestige Assurance advanced 9.2% to NGN 1.54, and MeCure Industries climbed 9.2% to NGN 94.9. Healthcare also featured, with May & Baker up 8.6% and Aiico Insurance up 6.4%. That spread suggests the rally was not confined to a single narrative; it was a broader rotation into smaller, more responsive counters.
Aradel’s heavy trading capped the index
The biggest drag on the benchmark was Aradel Holdings, down 7.7% despite the stronger oil backdrop. That matters because oil should have been a tailwind. Brent’s move to $108.85 was driven partly by geopolitical risk and tighter energy-market sentiment, according to global market commentary cited in the macro brief. For a market like Nigeria’s, where oil still shapes fiscal and FX expectations, that would normally support energy-linked equities. But equity pricing is rarely that linear. On the Lagos stock market, a stock can fall even when the commodity it is linked to rises, especially if investors are locking in gains after a strong run or reassessing valuation. Aradel’s NGN 8.02 billion traded value suggests active two-way positioning rather than a simple liquidity vacuum. It also helps explain why the benchmark weakened even though the broader market was positive on breadth. FTN Cocoa declined 9.9% to NGN 8.96, even as global cocoa prices fell 4.7% to $3,992. That underlines a recurring NGX pattern: commodity-linked names respond not only to global prices but also to local liquidity, positioning, and corporate-specific factors.
Rights issues, private placements, and a green bond shaped the week
The official announcement flow was unusually important this week and gave the Nigerian stock exchange today a distinctly capital-markets feel. They show a market still being reshaped by capital raising, recapitalization, and product expansion. The insurance sector remains especially active, with multiple rights-related notices in just 4 days. That fits the broader pattern seen in recent months, where insurers have been frequent users of the market to strengthen capital. Meanwhile, Fidelity Bank’s private placement sits squarely within the wider banking recapitalization story driven by the central bank’s higher capital requirements. It broadens the domestic fixed-income menu at a time when investors are balancing high local yields, equity rotation, and macro stabilization. In practical terms, more listed debt instruments can compete with equities for liquidity, especially in a high-rate environment, but they also deepen the market’s institutional architecture.
Earnings backdrop: Airtel Africa and sector signals beyond the headline movers
On the earnings side, Airtel Africa filed its audited financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2026 on May 8. The detailed figures are not included in the verified dataset here, so it would be wrong to overstate the numbers. But the filing still matters because telecom earnings have become a key test of how much FX stability is feeding through to reported profitability after the severe distortions of 2023 and 2024. Cement names such as DANGCEM and BUACEMENT were among stocks with announcements on the day, though they were not the main weekly movers in the data provided. For readers following the dangote cement share price, the bigger issue remains the interaction between domestic construction demand, energy costs, and infrastructure spending. Brent at $108.85 can raise logistics and fuel-related costs, even as stronger oil prices improve Nigeria’s macro backdrop as Africa’s largest crude producer. For context, this week also follows a recent pattern of insurer-heavy market notices. Our earlier report, Bourse du Nigeria — Le NGX ASI chute de 1,87%, mais les assureurs multiplient les annonces, captured that theme. The difference this time is that transport and other mid-caps, not insurers alone, supplied the strongest upside.
Outlook: what to watch in the week ahead
For the week of May 18-22, 2026, the key variables are clear. First, the market will need to absorb the ongoing rights activations, placements, and new listings, especially in insurance and banking, because those events can redirect liquidity across the board. Second, energy names will be tested again if Brent stays above $108 or reverses after this week’s 4.5% rise. Third, the path of USD/NGN, now at 1,367.25, will remain central to how investors interpret earnings quality in local currency and in dollar terms. After a week in which 41 stocks rose but the benchmark still fell, the next question is whether money keeps chasing mid-caps or rotates back into the heavyweights that actually move the index.
