ZSE Market Commentary 17 May 2024
ZSE recovers from prior sessions’ losses…
The market rebounded in Friday’s session as selected heavies lifted the ZSE. The All-Share Index and the ZSE Top Ten Index rose by a similar 0.71% to close at 94.65pts and 92.76pts respectively. The ZSE Agriculture Index rose 0.41% to 90.58pts while, Mid Cap Index was the top gainer amongst the indices we review as it inched up 0.99% to end at 97.63pts.
Property concern FMP led the gainers of the day as it surged 15.00% to settle circuit breaker limit of $0.2760 while, banking group NMB grew 14.97% to $1.6590. SeedCo Limited garnered 9.42% to end at a VWAP of $1.6768 while, beverages concern Delta jumped 2.36% to $7.1099. Spirit and wines manufacturer Afdis completed the top five winners of the day on a 2.16% uplift to $2.2500.
Ecocash led the fallers of the day as it succumbed 10.15% to $0.2112 while, Proplastics dropped 5.90% to close at $0.3825. Cigarette manufacturer BAT trimmed 3.85% to $24.9995 as FML slipped 2.89% to $1.8500. Banking group CBZ shed 2.60% to end the day pegged at $3 .6038.
Volume of shares traded tumbled 89.30% to 1.36m shares while, turnover dipped 99.89% to $901,040.98. Star Africa, OKZIM and Econet claimed a combined 72.99% of the volume traded. Value leaders of the day were Delta (28.88%), Econet 20.07%), OKZIM (16.77%) and BAT (11.38%).
Cass Saddle ballooned 14.04% to close at $0.0065 as other four ETFs remained stable. A total of 15,766 units worth $263.57 exchanged hands in the session. The Tigere REIT parred off 0.72% to $0.6300 while, the Revitus Property Opportunities ticked up 0.09% to end the day pegged at $0.2150.-Bulls n Bears
Stocks Daily: ZSE Recover on Friday as VFEX Slows Down Amid Sustained ZiG Stability
The ZSE closed the week in positive territory, recouping prior session’s losses on Friday as sustained exchange rate stability drove investor morale. The mainstream ZSE All Share Index notched up by 0.71% today to close at 94.65 points, with gains driven by market heavies and medium caps while penny stocks remain constant since the rebasing of indices.
Following the introduction of a new currency, the ZiG, which replaced the ZWL, the ZSE changed its functional currency to ZiG, and rebased all indices to 100 on the 8th of April in a bid to effectively reflect the effect of the new currency on financial markets. Likewise, all share prices were also converted to ZiG at a rate of 2,498.65 upon introduction. Since the rebasing of indices, the All Share Index is down -5.4% in nominal terms, which translates to -4.1% in US$ terms. On a month-to-date basis, the ZSE is down -4.2% and -4% in nominal and US$ terms respectively.
The US$ denominated bourse, VFEX, was relatively stable on Friday as 4 risers countered 3 laggards amid tight liquidity in the economy as well as policy uncertainty as government exerts excess control on currency markets. The mainstream VFEX All Share Index closed at 98.74 points on Friday. The All Share Index was rebased to 100 at the end of 2023 following the addition of six new listings in 2023. Since the beginning of May, the market is down -0.9%, against a -1.4% loss suffered in April. On a year-to-date basis, the All Share Index has shed off -1.3%. An aggregate of US$3,592 exchanged hands in today’s session, up from US$2,086 traded in the prior session.
On the currency markets, the Zimbabwe government introduced a new currency on the 5th of April 2024, backed by gold reserves and foreign currency. The Central Bank also announced new monetary policy measures on the same day, further tightening its stance on money supply while, however, slushing borrowing costs from 130% to 20%. The new MPS highlighted that the currency auction market has been replaced by the Interbank market, which will be used to liquidate all ZWL balances into Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), the new currency. Today, the ZiG appreciated by 0.03% against the US$ to close at 13.40. The Central Bank computes the exchange rate by dividing the US$ by gold price per milligram.
An aggregate of 24 counters exchanged hands in today’s session, with 3 sailing stable while 11 emerged risers. FMP came out as the top performer in the session on surging 15% to settle at 27.60c, followed by NMBZ which firmed by 14.97% to close at 165.90c. SeedCo went up by 9.42% to settle at 167.68c while Delta recouped prior session’s losses on rising by 2.36% to close at 710.99c. AFDIS settled at 225c after gaining 2.16%, capping off the Top 5 risers’ set.
On the downside, 10 counters partially weighed on the market. EcoCash Holdings performed the worst in the session on slumping -10.15% to close at 21.12c, reversing prior session’s gains while Proplastics extended prior session’s losses by a further -5.9% to settle at 38.25c. BAT retreated by -3.85% to close at 2499.95c, trailed by FML which shed off -2.89% to settle at 185c. CBZ lost ground by -2.6% to close at 360.38c, capping off the Top 5 laggards’ pack.
Total turnover fell by -88% from prior session’s record to ZiG0.9 million today against a -89% decline in overall shares traded. Delta led turnover contributors in the session, contributing 29% of the aggregate turnover and was trailed by Econet, OK Zim, BAT and SeedCo in that respective order. Foreign inflows contributed 0.7% to aggregate turnover in the session while outflows were nil.
EQUITY-AXIS
COMPANY EVENT VENUE DATE TIME
Old Mutual AGM VIRTUAL Wednesday, 22 May 2024 1500 Hours