Friesland, NGX, Two Others Plunge NASD by 3.19% 

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange plunged into the bearish territory as profit-taking on four heavyweight stocks weakened the market by 3.19 per cent on Friday, May 6. 

The heavy downturn ensured that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) lost 25.65 points to wrap the session at 778.03 points compared with 803.68 points recorded at the previous session. 

Following the same trend, the session ended with the market valuation losing N18.24 billion to N553.06 billion from N571.27 billion it closed a day earlier.

FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc recorded a depreciation of N8.64 or 6.5 per cent to end the day at N134 per share compared to N142.64 per share a day earlier. 

Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc made an N8 or 2.7 per cent loss to close at N302 per unit as against N310 per unit of the previous day. 

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc saw its value drop N2.40 or 9.1 per cent to end the day at N26.48 per unit compared to N28.88 per unit of the previous session. 

Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc recorded a N1.67 loss in its equities to close at N18.11 per unit against N19.78 per unit, indicating a 9.2 per cent downturn.

There was a drop in the total units of shares traded on Friday by 18.8 per cent to 5.0 million units from the previous day’s 6.2 million units.

Equally, the value of transactions dropped by 29.6 per cent to N131.1 million from N186.1 million at the preceding session, while the number of deals increased by 50 per cent to 57 deals from 38 deals recorded on Thursday.

These deals were executed on six companies led by NGX Group with 47 deals, CSCS Plc recorded five deals, Friesland had two deals, while NDEP Plc, Air Liquide Plc and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc made one deal each. 

NGX Group closed the session as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) traded with 161.2 million units of its shares worth N3.8 billion. CSCS Plc was in second place with 26.2 million units worth N401.7 million, while UBN Property Plc held the third position with 21.9 million units of its shares worth N24.6 million.

In terms of the most active stock by value (year-to-date), NGX Group Plc was also on top with 161.2 million units valued at N3.8 billion. It is followed by NDEP Plc with 2.3 million units valued at N725.2 million and Friesland with 4.2 million units valued at N527.2 million.