NASD OTC Records 2.36% Decline on Return from 3-Day Break

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange returned from the three-day Eid-el-Fitr break with weak investors’ confidence, leading to a 2.36 per cent decline on Friday.

This resulted in a depletion of the market capitalisation of the bourse by N34.1 billion at the close of transactions yesterday to N1.408 trillion from the N1.442 trillion it ended on Monday, as the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 24.9 points to end the day at 1,028.79 points compared with the previous session’s 1,053.69 points.

The alternative stock market ended yesterday’s session with three price losers and one price gainer led by Afriland Properties Plc, which rose by 90 Kobo to quote at N10.25 per share, in contrast to the preceding session’s price of N9.35 per share.

But FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N5.00 to close at N65.00 per unit compared with Monday’s closing price of N70.00 per unit, Aradel Holdings Plc declined by N100.00 to sell at N1,700.00 per share versus N1,800.00 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc declined by 6 Kobo to end at N2.49 per unit versus 2.55 per unit.

During the session, the volume of securities traded by investors went down by 99.0 per cent to 2.3 million units from 228.6 million units, and the value of shares transacted by market participants decreased by 94.9 per cent to N28.1 million from N1.2 billion, while the number of deals crashed by 46.7 per cent to 22 deals from 15 deals.

Aradel Holdings Plc closed the day as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 million units valued at N6.9 billion, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc was next with 45.1 million units sold for N1.3 billion, and Capital Hotel Plc traded 228.6 million units worth N1.1 billion to be in third position.

However, Capital Hotel Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 228.6 million units sold for N1.1 billion, followed by IPWA Plc with 79.9 million units worth N40.0 million, and Mixta Real Estate Plc with 69.9 million units valued at N114.6 million.