NASD OTC dragged into the red due to mixed sentiments; market cap tanked at N1.1bn

Charles Abuede

Mixed sentiment was exhibited on the NASD OTC  securities exchange on Thursday as continued calm by market investors on local equities dragged the equities market into the red zone. The total market fell 0.2 per cent by N1.07 billion to N545.63 billion from N546.7 billion and the NASD share index tanked to 767.62 points. Following the bulls and bears experienced in the previous sessions, market analysts look forward to a bullish close for the week with renewed interests in Nigerian equities from investors.

The market performance was mixed on Thursday as the total value of trades improved by 64 per cent to N162.9 million from N99.4 million as of the previous day while the total volume of trades exchanged in the market advanced by 321.5 per cent to 6.7 million from the previous session where the market recorded 1.6 million units. Consequently, the number of deals advanced to 52 on Tuesday from 35 on Wednesday while the total number of traded stocks surged 100 per cent to 8 from 4 in the previous session.

Furthermore, the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Plc) and the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) lead the gainers’ log on Thursday with a 0.8 per cent and 0.2 per cent appreciation in prices to N22.09 and N17.65 respectively. On the other hand, Afriland Properties (N1.25), Air Liquide (N6), Friesland Wamco (N130.37), Mixta real estate (N1.98) and the Union Bank Properties (N1.2) closed flat on Thursday while the Niger Delta Exploration Company was the lone decliner due to selling pressure in the stock

On Thursday, buying interest was seen as the level of trading activities increased significantly. As a result, the most traded stocks by volume were the Nigerian Exchange Group (6.7m units), Niger Delta Exploration Company (0.05m units) and the Central Securities Clearing System (0.085m units)  while the Nigerian Exchange Group (N147.2m),  Niger Delta Exploration Company (N15.0m), Friesland Wamco (N0.48m) and the Central Securities Clearing System (N0.15m) lead the most traded stock by value on Thursday respectively.