Trading opens week in negative

Stocks trading on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) opened this week on a negative note, slowing down by 5.67 percent despite a positive start to the month of April this year.

Yesterday’s performance comes as the local bourse leads in terms of year to date returns at 48.75 percent on the African markets.

However, according to African Markets’ weekly market performance, ZSE is ranked second at 13.49 percent in USD terms after Namibia that had a US dollar YtD return of 30.58 percent. The country’s biggest trading partner South Africa came in at 12.38 percent.

The record dip at the beginning of the week’s trading pushed the equities market’s positive return YtD lower to + 40.31 percent. This happened following market watchers’ expectation that this week will start off with mixed sentiment amid a hyperinflation environment that is causing a headache for accountants.

The mainstream All Share Index fell 5.67 percent to close at 15,185.27 points. But the value of listed stocks on ZSE passed the $2 trillion mark although it falls short of record in US terms. The Top 10 Index secured a marginal gain of 0.30 percent to close at 10,704.52 points.

Market breadth closed on a negative note as 18 losers were recorded compared to 16 advancers.
Gold miner RioZim led gainers, growing by 20 percent to $66.00. FMP gained 9.29 percent to $12.02. Axia rose 8.51 percent to $78.12. First Capital leapt to $5.08, up by 6.01 percent in the process.

As a result, the Medium Cap Index appreciated by 1.29 percent to 26,673.32 points. On the other hand, Nampak tumbled to $13.77, losing 5.33 percent. Milk processor Dairibord dipped to $34.57, recording 3.97 percent loss. ZHL lost 2.28 percent to $4.97. Medtech topped the losers’ table, declining by 16.19 percent to $17.60. Media group Zimpapers shrank by 11.70 percent to $2.34.

However, the Small Cap Index added 0.89 percent to 403,032.67 points. Cafca was up 16.28 percent to $240.0000.

Turnover nearly doubled to $312.78 million in 442 deals. Transactions in the shares of delta topped the activity chart with 654 600 shares valued at $157.29 million.

On ETFs, the Old Mutual ZSE TOP 10 lost 1.16 percent to $8.3721 while the DATVEST Modified Consumer Staples eased 0.52 percent to $1.8981. MORGAN & CO Multi-Sector rose by 1.69 percent to $14.8339.-eBusiness Weekly