NDEP Extends Rally at NASD Exchange by 0.10%

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange posted a consecutive appreciation on Friday, May 29, as major market indicators closed pointing north.

At the previous session, both the NASD Securities Index (NSI) and market capitalisation gained 1.66 percent and yesterday, they moved up further by 0.10 percent.

As a result, the NSI jumped 0.71 points to 691.46 points from 690.75 points it recorded at the Thursday’s session, while the bourse’s market value improved by N520 million to close at N507.92 billion in contrast to the preceding session’s N507.40 billion.

The day’s positive outcome came as a result in the gain in the share price of Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc, whose qualification date for its proposed N17 dividend was on Friday.

Investors acquired more shares of the company in order to benefit from the cash reward recommended by the board of directors of the organisation. The bargain hunting pushed the share price of the oil investment company up by N2.88 from N292 per share to N294.88 per share, making it the day’s only gainer.

The session saw a total volume of 164,900 shares transacted. This indicated that the market recorded a drop by 99.9 percent compared to 170.1 million units recorded at Thursday’s session.

These came from eight deals executed during the session at the exchange on securities belonging to NDEP Plc (six deals) and Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc with two deals.

At the previous session, the value of transactions totalled N2.3 billion but Friday’s deal dropped 98 percent in comparison, bringing about N48.8 million worth of stocks exchanged at the week’s final session.

ARM Life Plc stood firm as the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) yesterday with 7.4 billion units of its shares worth N4.6 billion. CSCS Plc was in second place with 194.6 million units traded at N2.6 billion, while Food Concept Plc followed in third place with 110 million units traded at N77 million.

In terms of value of trades (year-to-date), ARM Life Plc still retained the top position with a total of 7.4 billion units of its stocks sold for N4.6 billion. CSCS Plc came in second place with 194.6 million units transacted for N2.6 billion, while NDEP Plc followed in third spot with 7.2 million units worth N2.2 billion.