By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange failed to continue its bullish run after the duo of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and NASD Plc pulled it down by 0.08 per cent at the close of transactions on Thursday.
CSCS Plc lost 55 kobo or 3.55 per cent to close the session at N14.90 per share in contrast to the N15.50 per share it finished the earlier session, while NASD Plc followed with a 36 kobo or 2.40 per cent loss to close at N14.64 per unit compared with N15.00 per unit of the preceding day.
The depreciation in the prices of these stocks weakened the market capitalisation of the OTC securities exchange by 840 million to N1.023 trillion from the previous day’s N1.024 trillion as the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) fell by 0.64 points to 777.11 points from 777.75 points.
The market closed with VFD Group Plc as the sole price gainer after its value jumped by N10.86 or 4.44 per cent to close at N234.02 per unit versus the previous day’s N244.88 per unit.
Despite the loss posted by the market yesterday, the level of activity improved as investors traded 216,194 units of securities, 184.7 per cent higher than the 75,924 units of securities recorded a day earlier.
In the same vein, the value of trades appreciated by 418.4 per cent to N20.0 million from N3.9 million, while the number of deals increased by 171.43 per cent to 19 deals from seven deals.
At the close of business, AG Mortgage Bank Plc was the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 2.3 billion units sold for N1.2 billion, trailed by CSCS Plc with 672.9 million units worth N14.0 billion, and Food Concepts Plc with 146.0 million units valued at N126.7 million.
Conversely, CSCS Plc was the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 672.9 million units valued at N14.0 billion, followed by VFD Group with 9.6 million units worth N3.0 billion, and FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc with 9.4 million units valued at N1.2 billion.
