Bears Remain as Unlisted Securities Shed 0.85%

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange opened the new week bearish as it depreciated by 0.85 per cent on Monday.

It was the second consecutive loss the unlisted securities market was recording and this was influenced by Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc and Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc.

At the close of business yesterday, the market capitalisation of the bourse went down by N4.72 billion to N548.31 billion from N553.03 billion, while the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) depreciated by 6.65 points to 771.38 points from 773.03 points.

During the session, CSCS Plc lost 80 kobo or 4.4 per cent to close at N17.31 per share in contrast to N18.11 per share of the previous session, while NGX Group Plc went down by 24 kobo or 0.9 per cent to N26.24 per unit from N26.48 per unit of the earlier session.

At the market on Monday, investors traded 17.6 million shares compared with 5.0 million shares traded last Friday, indicating a surge in the trading volume by 280.6 per cent.

Also, the trading value witnessed a significant increase of 206.9 per cent as shares worth N402.5 million exchanged hands compared with the preceding session’s N131.1 million.

In the same vein, the number of deals executed by investors during the session went up by 38.6 per cent to 79 deals from the 57 deals executed last Friday.

These deals were executed on five companies led by the NGX Group with 67 deals, CSCS Plc recorded five deals, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc made four deals, Afriland Properties Plc had two deals, while the Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc made one deal.

For another trading session, NGX Group closed as the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 178.6 million units of its shares worth N4.2 billion. CSCS Plc trailed with 27.2 million units worth N419.0 million, while UBN Property Plc had 21.9 million units worth N24.6 million.

Also, NGX Group closed as the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 178.6 million units valued at N4.2 billion. NDEP Plc followed with 2.3 million units worth N725.9 million, while Friesland occupied the third spot for trading 4.2 million units for N527.7 million.