By Adedapo Adesanya
The growth enjoyed at the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange in the past few days was disrupted on Thursday, dashing the hopes of the market to close for the fourth consecutive session.
The unlisted securities market shrank for the first time this week by 0.21 per cent on the back of a decline in the share price of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc.
CSCS Plc depreciated by N1.70 or 10.9 per cent yesterday to settle at N15.63 per unit compared with the previous closing price of N17.33 per unit.
The loss printed by the company overshadowed the 4.9 per cent or N6.66 price appreciation recorded by FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, which closed the session at N137.13 per share versus N130.47 per share it ended on Wednesday.
At the close of business, the market capitalisation shed N2 billion to wrap the session at N956.65 billion in contrast to N958.65 billion in the midweek session, while the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) shed 1.52 points to wrap the session at 727.56 points compared with 729.08 points recorded at the previous session.
Business Post reports that the market recorded higher trading volume on Thursday as investors exchanged 1.4 million units of securities, 190 per cent higher than the 480,800 units of securities traded on Wednesday.
On the other hand, the value of trades went down by 12.6 per cent to N33.2 million from N38.0 million, while the number of deals rose by 50 per cent to 21 deals from 14 deals.
AG Mortgage Plc finished the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 2.3 billion units valued at N1.2 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 660.2 million units worth N13.8 billion, and NASD Plc with 42.6 million units valued at N456.1 million.
But CSCS Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 660.2 million units exchanged at N13.8 billion, AG Mortgage Plc was in second place with 2.3 billion units valued at N1.2 billion, while NASD Plc was in third place for trading 42.6 million units worth N456.1 million.
