By Adedapo Adesanya
It was a bad start for the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Monday, August 3 as its benchmark index went down by 0.22 per cent to close at 699.31 points against the previous 700.82 points.
The day’s decline was caused by a 9.53 per cent drop in the price of Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc stocks during the session.
The oil investment company recorded a decline of N23.82 in the price of its shares, closing at N250 per share as against N273.82 per share it previously closed.
The decline impacted the market capitalisation yesterday as it went down by N610 million to N513.69 billion from N514.80 billion.
However, there were two advancers on Monday; the Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc, which gained 50 kobo to sell at N14.50 per share versus the previous N14, and FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, which appreciated by 73 kobo to close at N124 per share compared with N123.27 per share of the prior session.
There was a 85.9 per cent drop in the trading volume yesterday as investors transacted 57,000 securities in contrast to 405,530 securities traded last Wednesday when the market last opened for business.
Also, there was a decline in the trading value yesterday by 57.6 per cent as transactions worth N8.4 million were executed compared with the previous day’s N19.9 million.
In addition, a total of four deals were carried out on Monday compared with the 19 deals recorded during the last session.
These were distributed across three securities on the exchange with CSCS Plc recording two deals, while FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc and NDEP Plc made a single deal each.
Still, on the activity chart, ARM Life Plc closed the session as the company with the highest volume of trades (year-to-date) with 7.4 billion units of its shares transacted for N4.6 billion. CSCS followed with 199.6 million units worth N2.7 billion, while Food Concept Plc has traded 125 million units of its shares worth N88 million.
In terms of the value of transactions (year-to-date), ARM Life Plc remained top on the table after trading 7.4 billion units of securities valued at N4.6 billion, while CSCS has transacted 199.6 million units for N2.7 billion, with NDEP Plc exchanging 8.5 million units of its securities valued at N2.6 billion.
