Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The bears maintained their grip on the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Thursday as a result of the 0.72 per cent loss recorded at the close of business.
This loss was inflicted on the NASD OTC market by Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc, which depreciated by 77 kobo or 9.9 per cent to close at N16.99 per unit compared to N17.26 per unit of the preceding day.
This shrank the market capitalisation of the bourse by N3.85 billion to close the day at N529.12 billion in contrast to the previous day’s N532.97 billion.
In the same trend, it contracted the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 5.42 points to wrap the session at 744.39 points compared with 749.81 points recorded at the previous session.
However, there was a price gainer yesterday and this was Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc, which appreciated by 19 kobo or 1.1 per cent to close the session at N17.55 per share in contrast to N17.36 per share of the previous session. The growth recorded by this stock could not keep the market from going down.
In terms of the level of activity, Business Post gathered that a total of 1.5 million units of shares were transacted yesterday compared to 6.3 million units recorded at the previous session, indicating a decline of 76.6 per cent.
Likewise, there was a decline in the value of shares traded yesterday by 56.7 per cent to N47.3 million from N109.1 million, while the number of deals increased by 41.4 per cent to 41 deals from 29 deals recorded on Wednesday.
Geo Fluids Plc was the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) on Thursday with 1.0 billion stocks traded for N700.1 million. NGX Group retained the second spot with 315.2 million valued at N6.9 billion, while Swap Technologies & Telecomms Plc was in third place with 46.6 million units worth N41.0 million.
In terms of value, NGX Group was the most active stock with 315.2 million units traded for N6.9 billion. Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc remained in the second spot with 3.2 million units valued at N966.9 million, while FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria maintained the third position with 6.7 million units valued at N834.8 million.
