By Adedapo Adesanya
Trading activities at the midweek session on the floor of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended on a negative note, with a decline of 2.10 per cent.
This weakened the market capitalisation of the NASD bourse by N13.36 billion as it closed at N623.35 billion on Wednesday compared with N636.71 billion it ended on Tuesday.
Also, the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) was affected yesterday as it shed 15.77 points to end the day at 736.15 points as against 751.92 points it recorded at the previous session.
Two securities were responsible for the loss posted during the session and they were FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, and Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc.
Friesland Campina WAMCO Nigeria Plc posted a decline of N13.50 or 11 per cent to settle at N121.50 per unit in contrast to N135.00 per unit it finished a day earlier, while CSCS Plc depreciated by 5 kobo or 0.3 per cent to sell at N18.20 per share compared to N18.25 per share it ended at the previous session.
However, the market recorded a price gainer and this was NASD Plc, which appreciated by 17 kobo or 1.9 per cent to close the day at N8.97 per unit as against N8.80 per unit of the preceding session.
Data from the exchange showed that there was a jump in the volume of securities traded by investors by 406.7 per cent as 1.3 million units were transacted compared with the 258,268 units traded a day earlier.
Likewise, there was a surge in the value of shares traded as market participants transacted securities worth N15.4 million in contrast to the shares valued at N3.1 million exchanged on Tuesday.
These transactions were completed in 17 deals as against the six deals carried out at the previous trading session, indicating a 183.3 per cent increase.
At the close of business, CSCS Plc remained as the most traded security by volume on a year-to-date basis with 654.7 million units valued at N13.8 billion, NASD Plc has transacted 5.4 million units valued at N71.0 million, while Food Concepts Plc has exchanged 3.0 million units worth N2.4 million.
Also, CSCS Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 654.7 million units valued at N13.8 billion and was trailed by VFD Group Plc with 916,161 units worth N331.5 million, and Friesland Campina WAMCO Nigeria Plc with 2.0 million units traded for N245.0 million.
Modupe Gbadeyanka