By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange index hit an all-year high of 803.68 points on Thursday, May 6 after it added 5.99 points to the previous day’s 797.69 points.
At the trading session, the market capitalisation increased by N4.25 billion to close at N571.27 billion in contrast to N567.01 billion it ended on Wednesday.
The bullish outcome recorded yesterday, which led to the 0.75 per cent growth printed by the unlisted securities market, was buoyed by Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc and Nipco Plc.
CSCS Plc saw its stock climb by 1.74 or 8.8 per cent to close at N19.78 per unit as against N18.04 per unit of the preceding day, while Nipco Plc gained 50 kobo to sell at N69.50 per share compared to N69 per share of Wednesday.
However, Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc was not lucky as its share price went down by N25 or 8.1 per cent to wrap the day at N335 per unit versus the previous N310 per unit, while Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc lost N1.23 to close the day at N28.88 per share as against N30.11 per share of the previous day.
During the session, the volume of securities traded reduced by 67.4 per cent to 6.2 million units from 18.9 million units, while the value of the shares decreased by 58.9 per cent to N186.1 million from N402.9 million, with the number of deals declining by 7.3 per cent to 38 deals from 41 deals.
NGX Group accounted for 24 deals, CSCS Plc and FrieslandCampina WAMCO Plc contributed five deals each, while Nipco Plc and NDEP Plc accounted for two deals each.
At the close of transactions, NGX Group remained as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with the sale of 157.3 million units worth N3.6 billion. CSCS Plc was in second place with 26.0 million units worth N399.2 million, while UBN Property Plc held the third position with 21.9 million units worth N24.6 million.
Also, NGX Group was the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 157.3 million units worth N3.6 billion. It was followed by the NDEP Plc with 2.3 million units valued at N723.4 million and Friesland with 4.2 million units valued at N526.3 million.
Modupe Gbadeyanka