By Adedapo Adesanya
Transactions at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange further closed bearish on Friday after the OTC bourse depreciated by 0.04 per cent, driven by the negative price movements in two companies.
Air Liquide Plc lost N6.90 or 11.1 per cent to settle at N62.10 per unit in contrast to N69 per unit it ended a day earlier, while FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc depreciated by 18 kobo or 0.2 per cent to trade at N122.15 per unit compared with N122.33 per unit of the preceding day.
The losses posted by the two stocks depleted the market capitalisation by N280 million to N618.66 billion from N618.94 billion and weakened the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) by 0.32 points to wrap the session at 730.61 points compared with 730.93 points of the previous session.
During the session, there was a drop in the volume of securities traded at the bourse as investors exchanged 47,627 units compared to the previous trading day’s 8.6 million units of securities, indicating a 99.5 per cent decrease.
Likewise, the value of shares traded at the session plunged to N2.9 million, 96.8 per cent lower than the N92.6 million posted on Thursday, while the number of deals depreciated 52.6 per cent to nine deals from the 19 deals executed at the previous trading day.
At the close of trades, Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc remained as the most traded security by volume (year-to-date) with the sale of 656.2 million units for N13.8 billion. NASD Plc came next with the sale of 21.6 million units valued at N212.7 million, while Food Concepts Plc came in third place as it has so far traded 4.0 million units worth N3.2 million.
The most traded stock by value (year-to-date) was also CSCS Plc with 656.2 million units worth N13.8 billion, VFD Group Plc has transacted 916,161 units worth N331.5 million, while FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc was in third place with 2.1 million units traded for N258.0 million.
