By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a historic milestone to hit the N2 trillion market capitalisation for the first time on Wednesday, May 29.
The market’s valuation jumped by 4.69 per cent or N92.47 billion to wrap the session at N2,077 trillion compared with the previous day’s N1.983 trillion.
In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) grew by 67.95 points to wrap the session at 1,516.20 points compared with 1,448.25 points recorded in the previous session.
The push was triggered by a continued rise in the stock price of a bellwether, Aradel Holdings Plc, by N443.89 to close at N4,882.74 per unit compared to the previous value of N4,438.85 per unit.
On the other hand, 11 Plc and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc recorded losses, with the former losing N6.00 to trade at N205.00 per unit versus Tuesday’s value of N211.00 per unit, and the latter declining by 24 Kobo to sell for N19.76 per share, in contrast to the preceding session’s closing price of N20.00 per share.
The volume of securities traded in the midweek session went down by 41.6 per cent to 334,505 units from the 572,554 units achieved a day earlier, as the value of shares transacted by investors decreased by 66.5 per cent to N190.9 million from N568.9 million.
Similarly, the number of deals carried out during the trading day shrank by 63.6 per cent to 20 deals from the 55 deals executed in the previous trading session.
Aradel Holdings Plc ended the day as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 5.5 million units worth N12.6 billion, CSCS Plc retained the second spot with the sale of 100.9 million units for N2.5 billion, and the third spot was occupied by Capital Hotels Plc with 228.6 million units valued at N1.1 billion.
Capital Hotels Plc maintained its position as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 228.6 million valued at N1.1 billion, followed by Mixta Real Estate Plc with the sale of 139.8 million units for N240.1 million, and CSCS Plc with 100.9 million units worth N2.5 billion.