NASD Exchange Extends Gains to Sixth Session, Rises 1.27%

By Adedapo Adesanya

The bullish run at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended to a second day this week and the sixth straight session on Tuesday, March 30.

The unlisted securities market appreciated by 1.27 per cent on the back of the gains posted by the trio of FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc, and VFD Group Plc.

NDEP was the largest gainer at the session as its stocks appreciated by N25.85 or 8.5 per cent to sell at N330.85 per unit compared to N305 per unit of the previous day.

VFD Group Plc saw its stocks gain N16.88 or 10 per cent to close at N185.67 per unit in contrast to the previous closing price of N168.79 per unit.

For Friesland, its share price went up by 50 kobo or 0.4 per cent to trade at N130.50 per share as against from N130 per share it finished on Monday.

These gains lifted the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 9.29 basis points to 740.22 points from 730.93 points and jerked the market capitalisation up by N6.61 billion to N526.16 billion from N519.555 billion it closed at the previous session.

Despite the growth recorded by the market yesterday, there was a drop in the total volume of shares transacted by investors by 55.4 per cent. This was because 342,892 shares exchanged hands during the session compared with the 769,371 shares traded at the previous trading session.

However, the total value of shares traded by market participants increased by 22.8 per cent as N106.5 million worth of securities were transacted in contrast to the N86.7 million worth of shares traded at the first trading session of the week.

In the same vein, the total number of deals rose by 8.33 per cent to 13 deals as against the 12 deals executed at the previous session.

These deals were executed on the three gainers as Friesland accounted for seven deals, NDEP Plc accounted for five deals, while VFD Group Plc accounted for one deal.

UBN Property Plc remained as the most traded stock on Tuesday by volume (year-to-date) with the sale of 21.9 million units valued at N24.6 billion and was trailed by Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc, with the sale of 8.2 million units worth N125.9 million, and Friesland with the sale of 3.5 million units worth N430.3 million.

In terms of the most active stock by value (year-to-date), NDEP Plc maintained the top spot with the sale of 2.2 million units valued at N668.5 million. Friesland trailed with the sale of 3.5 units of its securities valued at N430.3 million, while VFD Group Plc occupied the third spot with the sale of 993,884 units worth N143.7 million.