By Adedapo Adesanya
The first trading week in the second half of 2022 at the NASD over-the-counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended on a negative note after it depreciated by 0.03 per cent week-on-week.
The 27th trading week of the year, which ended last Friday, did not favour investors on the platform as the market capitalisation went down by N30 billion to N1.019 trillion from N1.022 trillion in the previous week (Week 26).
As for the NASD Securities Exchange Index (NSI), it fell by 23.97 points to close at 773.79 points in contrast to the preceding week’s 774.03 points.
Two market bellwethers were responsible for the decline suffered by the bourse, pushing down the effect of the four stocks that appreciated in price in the trading week.
Nipco Plc depreciated by 3.1 per cent to settle at N57.00 per share compared with N58.85 per share, while FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc fell by 1.9 per cent to N100.10 per unit from N102.00 per unit.
However, Citi Trust Holdings Plc gained 16.8 per cent to sell for N8.00 per unit in contrast to the previous week’s N6.85 per unit, NASD Plc rose by 9.6 per cent to N18.09 per unit from N16.50 per unit, Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc improved by 3.3 per cent to N217.00 per unit from N210 per unit, while Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc climbed higher by 0.7 per cent to N14.51 per share from N14.40 per share.
In the week, the value of trades increased by 1778.7 per cent to N637.8 million from N33.9 billion, the volume of transactions went up by 4,511.3 per cent to 43.5 million units from 942,570 units, while the number of deals rose by 80.4 per cent to 101 deals from 56 deals.
Citi Trust Holdings Plc was the most traded security by volume with 39.3 million units, followed by FrieslandCampina Plc with 2.2 million units, CSCS Plc with 1.3 million units, Nipco Plc with units and VFD Group Plc with 228,087 units.
Also, Citi Trust Holdings Plc was the most active stock by value with N298.5 million, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc followed with N221.4 million, VFD Group Plc traded N55.9 million, NDEP Plc transacted N22.8 million, while CSCS Plc traded N18.2 million.
From the first trading session of the year till last Friday, investors have bought and sold 3.2 billion units of shares worth N21.9 billion in 1,585 deals, with the market recording a year-to-date gain of 4.2 per cent.