By Adedapo Adesanya
Trading activities at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange further closed flat on Tuesday on the first day of the lockdown of Lagos.
The exchange operated remotely just as investors and brokers also traded remotely in compliance with the stay-at-home directive of the federal government due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The lockdown will last for an initial 14 days and things do not get better, it might be extended.
In fact, only a single deal was executed at the exchange during the trading session and this was from Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc, one of the market’s bellwethers.
But at the close of transactions, the market capitalisation and the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) remained at N508.84 billion and 692.71 points respectively.
A total of 250,000 units of stocks belonging to the securities depository company, CSCS Plc, were traded at the session. This trading volume was 97 percent lower than the previous day’s 8.4 million units.
Also, the value of the transaction declined by 51.4 percent or N3.27 million to N3.13 million from N6.4 million transacted at the previous session.
At the end of Tuesday’s trading, the bourse saw no price advancer or decliner.
In terms of most traded security by value (year-to-date) at the exchange, ARM Life Plc topped the activity chart after trading 7.4 billion units of stocks for N4.6 billion. It was trailed by Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc, which has transacted 6.5 million units for N2.03 billion, and FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, which has exchanged 2.2 million units of its shares valued at N269.7 million.
By volume (year-to-date), ARM Life Plc kept its place on top of the log by trading 7.4 billion units of its shares worth N4.6 billion, while Food Concept Plc took the second spot for transacting 110 million units valued at N77 million, with Lighthouse Financial Services Plc managed the third position after trading 47.7 million units for N23.8 million.