By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil stocks, Aradel Holdings and Acorn Petroleum, led the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange to a 1.77 per cent appreciation on Monday, March 18.
They increased the value of the alternative bourse by N24.85 billion during the trading session to N1.428 trillion from the N1.403 trillion it closed in the preceding, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rose by 18.33 points to wrap the session at 1,053.98 points compared with 1,035.65 points recorded at the previous session.
Aradel Holdings Plc, after recent profit taking, appreciated by N114.28 yesterday to settle at N1,734.28 per unit compared with last Friday’s N1,620.00 per unit, and Acorn Petroleum Plc improved its value by 1 Kobo to end at N1.20 per share compared with the preceding session’s N1.19 per share.
On the first trading day of the week, the volume of securities bought and sold went down by 98.5 per cent to 45,605 units from the 3.1 million units transacted in the previous trading session.
However, there was a jump in the value of securities traded yesterday by 25.8 per cent to N63.4 million from the N50.4 million recorded last Friday, while the number of deals declined by 30.0 per cent to 14 deals from the 20 deals executed in the preceding trading day.
At the close of transactions, Aradel Holdings Plc, with a turnover of 2.2 million units valued at N4.7 billion, remained the most active equity by value on a year-to-date basis, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 4.7 million units sold for N355.3 million, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 8.1 million units transacted for N167.7 million.
The most active equity by volume on a year-to-date basis remained IPWA Plc with the sale of 79.7 million units for N39.8 million, followed by Mixta Real Estate Plc with a turnover of 69.9 million units worth N114.6 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with the sale of 52.2 million units valued at N129.4 million.
Aduragbemi Omiyale 
Dipo Olowookere