WEEKLY ROUND UP- ZSE and VFEX Succumb to Liquidity Constraints as ZiG Appreciates Against US$
• ZSE dips to new record lows as liquidity constraints weigh on demand
• VFEX succumbs to tight liquidity, reverses prior gains
• ZiG partially recovers against the US$
The ZSE succumbed to heightened sell-offs in the week under review, plunging to a new record low as tight liquidity in the economy induced a bear-run. The Central Bank seeks to curtail speculative trading by tightening money supply following the introduction of a new currency, the ZiG, which replaced the ZWL.
On a week-on-week basis the ZSE All Share Index dwindled by -4.35% to close at 94.01 points. In-line with the change in the local currency, the ZSE changed its functional currency to ZiG, and rebased all indices to 100 on the 8th of April in a bid to effectively reflect the effect of the new currency on financial markets. Likewise, all share prices were also converted to ZiG at a rate of 2,498.65. Since then, the ZSE has lost -6% in nominal terms, which converts to -5.6% in US$ terms.
Despite an oscillatory performance throughout the week, the US$ denominated bourse, VFEX, closed the week under review in negative territory, reversing prior week’s gains. This comes amid constrained liquidity. The mainstream VFEX All Share Index fell by -0.64% to close at 98.52 points. The All Share Index was rebased to 100 at the beginning of the year to account for the six listings in 2023.
Since the beginning of May, the market is down -1.1%, against a -1.4% loss suffered in April. On a YTD basis, the All Share Index is down -1.5%. An aggregate of US$317,259 exchanged hands on VFEX in the week under review, down from US$515,452 traded in the previous week. Meanwhile, the bourse gained a new listing, Edgars, while BNC halted trading on the market.
On the currency markets, the Zimbabwe government introduced a new currency on the 5th of April 2024, backed by gold reserves and foreign currency. The Central Bank also announced new monetary policy measures on the same day, further tightening its stance on money supply while, however, cutting borrowing costs from 130% to 20%. The new MPS highlighted that the currency auction market has been replaced by the Interbank market, which will be used to liquidate all ZWL balances into Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), the new currency. In the week under review, the ZiG appreciated by 0.26% against the US$ to close at 13.52. The exchange rate is computed by dividing the US$ by gold price per milligram.
An aggregate of 34 stocks exchanged hands in the week under review, with 10 emerging risers and these were led by Fidelity which garnered a 30.4% growth to settle at 66c. The duo of ZHL and Star Africa went up for a 4th straight week by a further 18.8% and 18.1% respectively to close at 38c and 1c apiece.
SeedCo recouped prior week’s losses on rising 12% to settle at 140c, followed by ARTD which partially set off prior week’s losses on gaining 11.3% to close at 9c. Turnall wholly reversed prior week’s losses on gaining 8.5% to settle at 3c while RTG buttressed prior week’s gains by a further 1.4% to close at 21c. General Beltings firmed by 0.4% to settle at 5c, trailed by NMBZ which extended prior week’s gains by a further 0.2% to close at 106c. TSL buttressed prior week’s gains by a further 0.2% to settle at 106c, capping off the risers’ set.
On the downside, an aggregate of 20 counters heavily countered risers, with Dairibord performing the worst on slumping -30% to close at 56c. FML lost ground by -27.4% to settle at 164c, trailed by ZBFH which shed off -26.4% to close at 187c. EcoCash Holdings extended prior week’s losses by a further -25.2% to settle at 21c while Proplastics retreated by -21.1% to close at 45c.
The duo of Willdale and Nampak extended prior week’s losses by a further -20% each to settle at 4c and 40c respectively. FMP dwindled by -18.4% to close at 26c while Ariston reversed prior week’s gains on dipping -16.7% to settle at 4c. Tanganda Tea Company fell by -9.66% to close at 180c, capping off the Top 10 laggards’ pack.
Equity-Axis