NASD OTC Exchange Opens Week on Bearish Note, Loses N11.97bn

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange weakened further by 0.46 per cent on Monday, October 19, triggered by four securities.

This brought down the market capitalisation of the platform by N11.97 billion to N2.600 trillion from N2.612 trillion, and shrank the NASD Security Index (NSI) by 19.93 points to 4,331.91 points from 4,351.84 points.

The price losers were led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which lost N11.66 to close at N139.50 per unit versus N151.16 per unit. 11 Plc dropped N9.09 to sell at N222.01 per share compared with the previous N231.10 per share, MRS Oil Nigeria Plc weakened by N1.01 to N96.04 per unit from N97.05 per unit, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc declined by 1 Kobo to 53 Kobo per share from 54 Kobo per share.

There are five price gainers during the session, led by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which added N1.50 to sell at N100.00 per unit versus N98.50 per unit. IPWA Plc gained 89 Kobo to end at N11.30 per share versus N10.41 per share, FirstTrust Mortgage Bank Plc added 22 Kobo to close at N2.43 per unit compared with the previous N2.21 per unit, Food Concepts Plc grew by 20 Kobo to N2.30 per share from N2.10 per share, and Lighthouse Financial Service Plc increased by 13 Kobo to N1.49 per unit from N1.36 per unit.

Yesterday, the volume of securities decreased by 97.9 per cent to 1.4 million units from 68.6 million units, and the value of securities slipped 87.5 per cent to N26.8 million from N214.6 million, while the number of deals soared by 37.5 per cent to 33 deals from 24 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 81.9 million units exchanged for N6.0 billion.

GNI Plc also closed the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million