By Adedapo Adesanya
Investors stayed away from trading at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Tuesday, April 21, 2020.
According to data made available at the NASD trading platform, there were no record of transactions at the bourse yesterday as the volume and value of trades remained at their previous levels.
Also, the market capitalisation remained at N515.64 billion, while the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) stayed at Monday’s 701.97 points.
This is the second time in a month that investors have stayed away from the exchange during this current COVID-19 pandemic era.
On Wednesday April 1, about two days after the federal government locked down Lagos, Ogun, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Business Post reported that investors, wary of the impact of a pandemic on stocks, decided to stay away from the market .
It appears that same happened on Tuesday, April 21 as the lockdown, in its third week, looks like it won’t be called off soon as cases have escalated to above 700 in the country.
On Monday, the NASD OTC market moved up 0.54 percent on Monday, buoyed by Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc, which had its share price rising to N13.55 per unit from N13 each.
This pushed the value of transactions during the session to N1.88 million from 138,800 units recorded at the previous trading day.
During the session, ARM Life Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 7.4 billion units of its shares traded for N4.6 billion. Food Concept Plc was in second place with 110 million units traded at N77 million, while Lighthouse Financial Services Plc followed in third place with 48 million units traded at N24 million.
In terms of value of trades (year-to-date), ARM Life Plc still retained the top position for trading 7.4 billion units worth N4.6 billion. Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc came in second place with 6.5 million units valued at N2.03 billion, while CSCS Plc followed in third spot with 24.2 million units worth N287 million.
