By Adedapo Adesanya
Investors at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed the 38th week of the trading year with a smile on their faces as their wealth increased N5.49 billion.
The was buoyed by the bulls, which overpowered the bears in the trading week, resulting in the market capitalisation growing to N528.90 billion from N524.64 billion in the preceding week.
In the same vein, the unlisted securities index recorded a weekly growth of 1.05 per cent or 7.48 points to settle at 720.02 points versus 712.54 points it ended in week 37.
Business Post observed that the strengthening of the market last week can be attributed to the price appreciation in the securities of FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc and Nipco Plc
FrieslandCampina, with a market capitalisation of N127.22 billion, improved its value by 4.25 per cent to N130.31 per share from N125 per share of the previous week.
On its part, Nipco Plc, which currently holds a market capitalisation of N932.71 billion, gained 7.18 per cent to settle at N70 per unit versus the previous value of N65.31 per unit. The oil and gas company stock last recorded a move in value in July.
There were two price decliners during the week. Afriland Properties Plc, with a market capitalisation of N2.06 billion, depreciated by 9.64 per cent to sell for N1.5 per unit in contrast to N1.66 per unit of the preceding week.
In the same vein, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which currently holds a market capitalisation of N67.50 billion, went down by 0.52 per cent to trade at N13.5 per share compared with N13.57 per share of week 37.
On the activity chart, there was a 381.83 per cent increase in the value of trades in the week to N108.4 million from N22.4 million, while the trading volume rose by 406.9 per cent to 3,246,505.00 units from 640,354.00 units, with the number of deals declining by 4.9 per cent to 39 deals from 41 deals.
The top five traded securities of the week were CSCS Plc (1.3 million units), Nipco Plc (1.0 million units), Famad Nigeria Plc (500,000 units), Afriland Plc (312,666 units) and FrieslandCampina Plc (128,137 units).
By value, the top five were Nipco Plc (N69.9 million), CSCS Plc (N17.5 million), FrieslandCampina Plc (N17.2 million), Niger Delta Exploration and Production Plc (N2.6 million) and Famad Nigeria Plc (N625,000).
As the end of the week, total trade activity for the year stood at 7,826,798,292 units valued at N10.9 billion traded in 1,146 deals.
Dipo Olowookere