Unlisted Securities Index Rises 0.22% on Renewed Buying Pressure

By Adedapo Adesanya

Renewed buying pressure on a few bellwether stocks raised the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.22 per cent on Thursday, August 25, reversing the loss reported in the previous day.

The growth witnessed during the trading session was boosted by improvements in the share prices of three companies admitted on the trading platform.

This resulted in a 1.75-point increase in the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (ASI to 790.45 points from 788.70 points, and lifted the market capitalisation of the bourse by N2.46 billion to N1.108 trillion from N1.105 trillion.

Aradel Holdings Plc gained N25.21 to sell at N460.00 per share compared with the previous day’s N434.79 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by N4.43 to close the day at N77.43 per unit versus N73.00 per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc grew by 10 Kobo to N2.90 per unit from N2.80 per unit.

They erased the 50 Kobo loss recorded by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, closing at N18.00 per share, in contrast to the previous trading session’s N18.50 per share.

The market posted a 2,734.9 per cent jump in the volume of securities traded at the bourse yesterday to 5.7 million units from Wednesday’s 200,192 units, the value of shares increased by 913.3 per cent to N101.3 million from N9.99 million, while the number of deals depreciated by 61.3 per cent to 12 deals from the 31 deals carried out in the preceding trading session.

CSCS Plc remained the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.1 billion units valued at N21.6 billion, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc followed with 636.2 million units worth N51.0 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc maintained the third spot for trading 631.1 units valued at N1.1 billion.

Similarly, CSCS Plc finished the trading session as the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 1.1 billion units worth N21.6 billion, followed by VFD Group with 26.4 million units valued at N5.9 billion, Aradel Holdings Plc with 4.7 million units valued at N1.5 billion.