By Adedapo Adesanya
Traders of unlisted stocks in Nigeria gained N50 million from the comfort of their homes on Tuesday as they continue to abide by the lockdown declared by the federal government in Lagos State.
Last week, investors at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange started to trade remotely due to government’s directive on restriction of movements in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja. The stay-at-home order was to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country.
At the market on Tuesday, the Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc, for the second straight day, closed as the only price gainer, helping the local bourse to extend its rally.
The securities depository company had at the previous session pushed the exchange up by 0.29 percent and yesterday, it supported the 0.01 percent marginal growth posted by the market.
At the close of transactions, the market capitalisation slightly increased by N50 million to N510.39 billion from N510.34 billion,while the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rose by 0.07 points to 694.82 points from 694.75 points.
CSCS Plc, which was the day’s sole advancer, added 2 kobo to its share value to sell at N12.50 per unit in contrast to N12.48 per share it traded on Monday.
During the session, the volume of shares transacted by market participants increased by 43 percent to 1.5 million units from 1.05 million units, while the value of the stocks traded also rose by 43 percent to N18.8 million from N13.1 million, with the number of deals executed decreasing by 33.33 percent to two deals from three deals of the previous session.
A breakdown of the two deals carried out during the trading day showed that they were from CSCS Plc and FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc.
A further analysis of these trades by Business Post indicated that a larger chunk of the value were from CSCS, which recorded transactions worth N18.75 million, while Friesland recorded N9,600.
ARM Life Plc closed the session as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) by trading 7.4 billion units of its shares worth N4.6 billion at the bourse. Food Concept Plc was in second place with 110 million units worth N77 million, while Lighthouse Financial Services Plc traded 47.8 million units of its shares worth N23.8 million.
ARM Life Plc also ended the day as the most active stock by value (year-to-date) after transacting 7.4 billion stocks valued at N4.6 billion. Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc followed by exchanging 6.5 million shares for N2.03 billion, while FrieslandCampina has traded 2.2 million units of its securities valued at N269.7 million.
Modupe Gbadeyanka