NASD OTC Equities Jump 3.97% in Week 31

By Adedapo Adesanya

A 3.97 per cent growth was recorded by the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange last week, extending the weekly improvement as investors showed strong confidence in the alternative bourse.

It was the 31st trading week of the year and the market opened for five trading sessions.

The outcome pushed the market capitalisation of the exchange higher by N43 billion to N1.120 trillion from the N1.077 trillion achieved in Week 30.

Likewise, the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) appreciated by 30.88 points to close at 809.84 points compared with the 778.96 points recorded in the previous week.

In the week, there were four price gainers and two price losers led by Geo-Fluids Plc, which shrank by 3.6 per cent to close at N2.80 per share compared with N2.90 per share, as FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost 1.4 per cent to settle at N76.50 per un9it versus N77.61 per unit.

On the flip side, Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc gained 1.7 per cent to quote at N350.00 per unit versus N344.10 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc rose by 5.9 per cent to N18.00 per unit from N17.00 per unit, Acorn Petroleum Plc expanded by 26.3 per cent to 24 Kobo per share from 19 Kobo, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc increased by 25 per cent to 10 Kobo per unit from 8 Kobo per unit.

Business Post reports that the volume of trades decreased by 57.6 per cent to 18.2 million units from 42.9 million units, the number of deals went down by 19.19 per cent to 80 deals from 99 deals, but the value of trades jumped by 486.9 per cent to N1.8 billion from N308.8 million.

At the close of the week, VFD Group Plc was the most traded stock by value with N1.7 billion units, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc traded N69.2 million units, NDEP Plc exchanged N52.1 million units, Geo-Fluids Plc transacted N14.00 million, and CSCS Plc traded 11.8 million.

Also, VFD Group Plc ended the week as the most traded stock by volume with 7.5 million units, Geo-Fluids Plc exchanged 5.00 million units, IGI Plc posted 2.4 million units, Purple Real Estate Plc recorded 1.4 million units, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc transacted 900,000 units.