By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange opened the week in the bearish territory on Monday, December 20 as a result of a decline of 0.16 per cent.
Securities of two companies admitted at the unlisted securities market were responsible for the poor outcome and they were NASD Plc and Air Liquide Plc.
NASD Plc depreciated by N1.95 or 7.8 per cent to close at N25.05 per share against N27.00 per share of the previous session, while Air Liquide Plc, on its part, recorded a 50 kobo or 9.1 per cent loss to close at N5.50 per unit against N6.00 per unit of last Friday.
The depreciation in these companies reduced the market capitalisation of the bourse by N960 million to close the day at N610.33 billion in contrast to N611.29 billion, while the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) depreciated by 1.16 points to wrap the session at 738.74 points compared with 739.90 points recorded at the previous session.
On the activity chart, there was a 381,662.8 per cent surge in the total units of shares traded on Monday as 16.0 million units were transacted at the market compared to 4,200 units recorded at the previous session.
Equally, the value of transactions rose by 81,547.3 per cent as N401.5 million were expended on securities compared to N491,800 at the preceding session.
At the session, four deals were executed which showed that the number of deals increased 100 per cent compared to the preceding session’s two deals.
Food Concepts Plc remained as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-day basis with a turnover of 11.4 billion units of its shares worth N14.4 billion. Lighthouse Financial Services Plc followed for trading 1.1 billion units worth N546.2 million, while Geo Fluids Plc, which claimed third place, has traded 1.0 billion units worth N700.1 million.
By value on a year-to-date basis, Food Concepts Plc was also on top of the chart with the sale of 11.4 billion units worth N14.4 billion, followed by Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc with 456.5 million units valued at N9.2 billion, and VFD Group Plc with 10.4 million units traded for N3.5 billion.
Modupe Gbadeyanka