By Adedapo Adesanya
The market capitalisation of the NASD Over the Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange returned to the N500 billion region on Friday after it appreciated by 0.26 per cent.
This was buoyed by the price appreciation recorded by the shares of FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, which are traded on the platform.
Business Post reports that the equity price of the milk maker at the unlisted securities market increased by N1.34 or 1.1 per cent to settle at N120.34 per unit in contrast to N119 per unit of the previous day.
As a result of this growth, the market capitalisation improved by N1.31 billion to N500.32 billion from N499.01 billion it ended on Thursday.
Also, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rose by 1.83 points to close at 697.30 points in contrast to 695.47 points it finished a day earlier.
But despite the positive outcome recorded yesterday, the activity chart closed mixed with the volume of traded shares reducing by 93.6 per cent to 117,995 units from the previous day’s N1.9 million units.
Also, the number of deals executed by the market participants yesterday went down by 83.3 per cent to two deals from 12 deals on Thursday and they were all carried out on FrieslandCampina.
However, the value of stocks transacted by investors rose by 1,522.21 per cent to N14.2 million from the N875,347 achieved the preceding day.
At the close of business, UBN Property Plc maintained its position as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 15.5 million units valued at N16.8 billion. Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc followed in second place with 4.7 million units worth N74.6 million, while FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc held the third position with 2.8 million units worth N346.4 million.
In terms of the most active stock by value (year-to-date), FrieslandCampina retained its spot on top of the chart after trading 2.8 million units valued at N346.4 million. Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc trailed for selling 612,249 securities valued at N198.1 million, while the third spot was occupied by CSCS Plc, which has traded 4.7 million units worth N74.6 million.
Modupe Gbadeyanka