By Adedapo Adesanya
The last trading week before the Christmas break was not a good one for investors at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange as their portfolios shrank by 0.61 per cent.
Data from the bourse showed that in the 51st trading week of the year, the market capitalisation of the platform reduced by N5.68 billion to N925.06 billion from the preceding week’s N930.74 billion.
Also, the NASD Securities Index (NSI) went down by 4.32 basis points to close the week at 704.00 basis points, in contrast to the 708.32 basis points it ended in Week 50.
Business Post reports that the outcome last week was largely impacted by the decline in the share prices of Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc.
NDEP fell by 2.8 per cent in the week to trade at N170.10 per unit compared with the previous week’s N175.00 per unit, while CSCS dropped 7.6 per cent to close at N12.47 per share versus N13.50 per share.
The duo overshadowed the gains printed by Afriland Properties Plc and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc. While the former appreciated by 8.7 per cent to settle at N1.50 per unit compared with the previous price of N1.38 per unit, the latter rose by 0.2 per cent to N66.00 per share versus N65.90 per share.
Last week, there was a 598.5 per cent increase in the total value of transactions to N233.9 million from N32.1 million in the previous week, as the volume of trades increased by 342 per cent to 46.0 million units from 10.4 million.
Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) Plc was the most traded stock by volume last week, with 25 million units. Geo-Fluids Plc traded 20 million units, CSCS Plc exchanged 329,748 units, NDEP Plc traded 306.879 units, and FrieslandCampina recorded 274,814 units.
Also, NMRC was the most traded stock by value with N131 million. NDEP Plc traded N52.2 million, FrieslandCampina recorded N18.1 million, Geo-Fluids traded N14.0 million, and CSCS Plc transacted N4.2 million.
The unlisted stock market was closed on Monday and Tuesday but was reopened for business today to be closed again next Monday.