By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended the Friday trading session in the positive territory after it appreciated by 0.29 per cent.
The growth was influenced by the continued increase in the share price of VFD Group at the unlisted securities market as it gained 10.00 per cent or N15.34 during the session to close at N168.79 per unit versus the previous closing price of N153.45 per unit.
At the beginning of the week, the company’s stock price was N115.58 and on Tuesday, it went up to N127.00 and climbed to N139.50 at the midweek session, then to N153.45 on Thursday before settling at N168.79 yesterday.
Business Post reports that in this week alone, the equity value of the proprietary investment company has improved by 46.0 per cent or N53.21.
VFD Group was not the only gainer at the market on Friday as the Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc appreciated by 0.4 per cent or N1.15 to close at N298.15 per share compared with N297 per share of the previous day.
However, there was no price loser during the session.
It was observed that gains recorded by VFD Group and NDEP pushed the market capitalisation of the NASD OTC Exchange higher by N1.51 billion to N515.99 billion from N514.48 billion.
It also increased the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 2.12 points to 725.91 points from 723.79 points it ended at the preceding day.
At the market yesterday, investors traded 1.4 million units of securities, 238.3 per cent higher than the previous day’s 401,920 units of securities.
In the same trend, the trading value skyrocketed by 682.3 per cent to N371.9 million from N47.5 million, while the number of deals decreased by 16.7 per cent to five deals from the six deals recorded on Thursday.
At the close of business, UBN Property Plc was still the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 21.9 million units of its shares sold for N24.6 million. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc was in second place with 7.9 million units worth N122.7 million, while FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc held the third position with 2.9 million units worth N363.8 million.
However, NDEP Plc returned as the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) after trading 1.8 million units of its securities valued at N551.1 million. Friesland slipped to the second spot for trading 2.9 million units valued at N363.8 million, while CSCS Plc was on the third position with 7.9 million units worth N122.7 million.
Dipo Olowookere