By Adedapo Adesanya
Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc opened the door for the bears to penetrate the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Friday.
The unlisted securities market bled by 0.41 per cent on the last trading session of the week as a result of the decline in the share price of NDEP.
Consequently, the market capitalisation of the bourse shrank by N4.08 billion to N1.003 trillion from N1.007 trillion, while the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) dropped 3.1 basis points to end the day at 762.18 points as against 765.28 points it recorded in the previous session.
Data from the exchange indicated that the stock price of the oil and gas investment company depleted by N22.5 during the session to N209.84 per unit from the previous N232.24 per unit.
It was also observed that the volume of securities traded at the bourse on Friday reduced by 45.5 per cent to 60,475 units from 111,021 units, while the value of trades increased 179.0 per cent to N7.5 million from N2.7 million, with the number of deals increasing by 44.4 per cent to 13 deals from the nine deals carried out a day earlier.
AG Mortgage Bank Plc remained the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 2.3 billion units valued at N1.2 billion, while Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc stood in second place with the sale of 686.5 million units worth N14.2 billion, with Food Concepts Plc in third place with the sake of 147.8 million units valued at N128.4 million.
The most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis was still CSCS Plc with a turnover of 686.5 million units exchanged for N14.2 billion, while VFD Group Plc was in second place with the sale of 11.1 million units valued at N3.3 billion, with FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc in third place with a turnover of 13.9 million units valued at N1.7 billion.