By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange escaped from the den of the bears on Thursday after it closed 0.14 per cent higher as a result of the gains posted by FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc during the session.
The share price of the mil-making firm appreciated by 85 kobo or 0.7 per cent yesterday to close at N123.00 per unit compared with N122.15 per unit it ended a day earlier.
This rise consequently pushed the market capitalisation of the exchange higher by N830 million to close at N615 billion in contrast to N614.17 billion it quoted at the previous session.
Equally, the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) increased on Thursday by 0.98 points to end the day at 726.28 points as against 725.30 points it recorded on Wednesday.
However, the volume of securities traded by investors yesterday depreciated by 10.1 per cent to 15.2 million units from the 16.9 million units transacted at the preceding session.
Likewise, there was a fall in the value of shares traded by investors as shares worth N8.6 million exchanged hands, 42.1 per cent lower than the N14.9 million worth of shares traded at the midweek trading session.
But the number of deals carried out during the trading day increased by 80 per cent to nine deals as against the five deals executed at the preceding session.
Business Post reports that Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc ended the session as the most active stock by volume yesterday on a year-to-date basis with 656.6 million units sold for N13.8 billion. AG Mortgage Plc followed with the sale of 32.0 million units valued at N16.7 million, while NASD Plc occupied the third place for trading 21.9 million units valued at N215.7 million.
In the same vein, CSCS Plc closed the session as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 656.6 million units worth N13.8 billion, followed by VFD Group Plc with 916,161 units worth N331.5 million and FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc with 2.2 million units traded for N264.7 million.
