Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
Trading activities at the unlisted securities market in Nigeria were bearish on Wednesday, depressing by 1.14 percent at the end of the day.
The negativity spread across the various indicators of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange, including the activity level of the market.
It was observed that the market suffered contraction at the midweek session as a result of heavy drops in share prices of two big stocks at the bourse.
The declines led the NASD unlisted securities index (NSI) to shed 7.9 basis points to close at 685.81 points from 693.71 points.
In the same vein, it reduced the market capitalisation by N5.81 billion from N509.58 billion to N503.77 billion.
According to data from the exchange, Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc and Nipco Plc lost N25.79 and N6 respectively during the trading session and were responsible for pulling down the market.
With the drop on Wednesday, NDEP Plc share price dropped to N278.21 from N304.00 it previously sold, while Nipco Plc dropped to N65 per share from N71 per share.
The exchange transacted a total of 127,021 shares, 92 percent lower than the 1.5 million units recorded at the previous session.
This was realised from five deals executed on securities belonging to the day’s decliners with NDEP Plc with four deals while Nipco Plc with a single deal.
Transactions from both stocks brought about a total of N33.1 million worth of shares at the session: Nipco Plc (N650,000) and NDEP Plc (N34.18 million). In comparison to the previous session, the number of shares transacted rose by 26 percent from N26.3 million quoted.
Insurer, ARM Life Plc closed as the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) yesterday with 7.4 billion units of its shares worth N4.6 billion traded. Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc was in second place with 195.6 million units traded at N2.6 billion, while Food Concept Plc Plc followed in third place with 110 million units traded at N77 million.
In terms of value of trades (year-to-date), ARM Life Plc still retained the top spot with a total of 7.4 billion units worth N4.6 billion transacted. CSCS Plc came in second place with 195.6 million units transacted valued at N2.6 billion, while NDEP Plc followed in third spot with 7.3 million units worth N2.3 billion.
