By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.40 per cent depreciation on Friday, April 19 as investors booked profit in Aradel Holdings Plc, which rebounded the unlisted market the preceding day.
The market capitalisation of the bourse declined yesterday by N5.8 billion to close at N1.428 trillion compared with the N1.434 trillion it closed in the preceding session, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) depleted by 4.24 points to wrap the session at 1,043.32 points compared with 1,083.49 points recorded at the previous session.
Aradel Holdings, which has been one of the best stocks on the platform since the year began, lost N28.03 on Friday to trade at N1,841.97 per unit, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,870.00 per unit.
Business Post reports that UBN Property Plc gained 5 Kobo during the session to quote at N1.65 per share versus the preceding day’s N1.60 per share, but it could not stop the NASD OTC Exchange from going down at the close of business.
On the activity chart, the volume of securities traded during the session by investors increased by 669.7 per cent to 578.297 units from 75,130 units, the value of securities also surged yesterday by 350.6 per cent to N253.1 million from N56.2 million, and the number of deals executed rose by 55 per cent to 31 deals from the 20 deals carried out a day earlier.
The most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis remained Capital Hotels Plc with 228.6 million units valued at N1.1 billion, trailed by IPWA Plc with 79.9 million units for N40.0 million, and Mixta Real Estate Plc with 69.9 million units worth N114.6 million.
Similarly, Aradel Holdings Plc maintained its position as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.7 million units valued at N7.2 billion, followed by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 45.2 million units sold for N1.3 billion, and Capital Hotels Plc with 228.6 million worth N1.1 billion.