CitiTrust Halts Bearish Run at NASD Bourse by 0.01% Growth

By Adedapo Adesanya

The bearish trend at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange was halted on Thursday after a marginal growth of 0.01 per cent influenced by CitiTrust Holdings Plc.

This boosted the market capitalisation by N70 million during the session to N1.006 trillion from N1.006 trillion in the previous session, while the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) grew by 0.05 points to 764.51 points from Wednesday’s 764.46 points.

It was observed that the market’s newcomer, CitiTrust Holdings Plc, gained 25 kobo or 4.17 per cent to quote at N6.25 per share compared with the previous day’s N6.00 per share.

However, Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) depreciated during the session by N1 or 0.55 per cent to sell at N180.00 per unit versus the previous day’s N181.00 per unit.

On the market day, investors traded 3.2 million units of securities compared with the 778,677 units of securities transacted a day earlier, indicating an increase of 307.9 per cent.

According to data from the exchange, market participants transacted shares worth N25.8 million exchanged hands compared with the previous day’s N21.0 million, representing a 22.7 per cent increase.

These transactions were carried out in five deals, 83.9 per cent lower than the 31 deals carried out at the midweek session.

At the close of trades, AG Mortgage Bank Plc was the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 2.3 billion units valued at N1.2 billion, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc stood in second place with a turnover of 673.5 million units worth N14.1 billion, while Food Concepts Plc was in third place with the sale of 146.0 million units valued at N126.7 million.

Also, CSCS Plc maintained its position as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 673.5 million units sold for N14.1 billion, VFD Group was in second place with 9.6 million units valued at N3.0 billion, while FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc was in third place with the sale of 9.6 billion units for N1.2 billion.