NASD Index Rises 0.21% as FrieslandCampina, Aradel Gain

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange appreciated by 0.21 per cent on Thursday after the share prices of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc and Aradel Holdings Plc improved at the close of transactions.

FrieslandCampina added N3.09 to its value to settle at N75.90 per unit versus the previous closing price of N72.81 per unit, and Aradel gained 71 Kobo to close at N564.71 per share compared with the preceding day’s value of N564.00 per share.

The upward movement in the share prices of these companies lifted the market capitalisation of the NASD OTC exchange by N2.41 billion to N1.140 trillion from the N1.138 trillion achieved in the midweek session, and the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) increased by 1.7 points to wrap the session at 807.08 points compared with the 805.38 points recorded at the previous session.

Business Post reports that three equities tried to further pull down the NASD index yesterday but were unsuccessful.

11 Plc lost N10 to close at N150.00 per share versus Wednesday’s N160.00 per share, Air Liquide Plc dropped 50 Kobo to sell at N5.00 per unit compared with the previous day’s N5.50 per unit, and NASD Plc fell by 17 Kobo to end at N12.65 per share, in contrast to the preceding day’s N12.82 per share.

As for the activity chart, the volume of securities traded during the session went up by 50.4 per cent to 1.5 million units from 1.03 million units, the value of transactions rose by 21.6 per cent to N40.7 million from the N33.5 million recorded in the preceding trading day and the number of deals appreciated by 7.7 per cent to 28 deals from the 26 deals posted on Wednesday.

At the close of business, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc was the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 1.1 billion units for N22.1 billion, UBN Property Plc was in second place with 924.2 million units valued at N917.5 million, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc traded 647.3 units worth N52.6 million.

Also, CSCS Plc ended the trading session as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 1.1 billion units worth N22.1 billion, VFD Group was in second position with 26.5 million units valued at N5.9 billion, and Aradel Holdings Plc was in third place with 6.0 million units worth N2.1 billion.