NASD OTC Records Loss for Third Consecutive Week

By Adedapo Adesanya

For the third straight week, the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a decline, closing last week with a year-to-date loss of 2.2 per cent.

In the five-day trading week, the unlisted securities market depreciated by 1.63 per cent and this made investors lose N8.61 billion at the close of transactions.

Consequently, the market capitalisation reduced to N520.48 billion from the previous week’s N529.09 billion, while the NASD Security Index (NSI) decreased to 725.39 points from 737.39 points.

Business Post reports that the weak performance witnessed in the week was influenced by the losses suffered by three of the market heavyweight stocks led by FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, which depreciated by 4.86 per cent to settle at N121.14 per unit in contrast to N127.33 per unit it finished a week earlier.

Also, Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc lost 2.55 per cent to quote at N330.00 per share versus the preceding week’s closing price of N338.66 per share, while Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc declined by 1.53 per cent to end at N16.00 per unit in contrast to N16.25 it traded the previous week.

The week also saw the presence of the bulls and this was on the invitation of Geo-Fluids Plc, which gained 8.69 per cent to settle at 75 kobo per share in contrast to the previous rate of 69 kobo per share.

During the fourth trading week of 2021, there was a 10.4 per cent increase in the total value of securities traded by investors; N145.6 million versus the preceding week’s N131.9 million.

However, the total volume of transactions reduced by 89.4 per cent to 1,271,526 units compared with the previous week’s 12,376,242 units.

In the same vein, the number of deals executed by market participants decreased by 2.7 per cent to 36 deals from the 37 deals carried out the preceding week.

At the close of transactions for the week, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc Plc was the most active stock by volume with 1.1 million units. Geo Fluids Plc transacted 92,000 units, NDEP Plc sold 20,846 units, Air Liquide Plc exchanged 11.940 units, while CSCS Plc traded 8,000 units.

In terms of of the most traded securities by value for the week, FrieslandCampina topped the chart with the sale of shares N138.3 million. NDEP Plc traded N7.0 million, CSCS Plc transacted N128,000, Air Liquide Plc exchanged N71,640, while Geo Fluids Plc traded N69,000.

So far in the year, investors have traded 18,891,710 units of securities worth N375.1 million in 111 deals.