ZSE Market Commentary 23 May 2024
ZSE closes 0.21% higher in Thursday’s trades …
The market recorded gains in Thursday’s session as the All¬ Share Index firmed up 0.21% to 97.08pts while, the Blue-Chip Index gained 0.57% to 95.98pts. The Mid Cap Index rose 0.13% to 99.60pts while, on the contrary the Agriculture index lost 1.73% to 93.14pts.
Brick manufacturer Willdale headlined the top performers of the day on a 13.64% surge to $0.0400, followed by Econet that edged up 3.82% to close at $1.5937. Star Africa ticked up 1.32% to $0.0070 while, beverages giant Delta rose 0.46% to $7.1351.
Mashonaland Holdings capped the top five winners of the day on a 0.37% lift to end the day pegged at $0.1355. In contrast seed producer Seed Co led the laggards of the day on a 13.49% drop to $1.7021 while, fintech group Ecocash Holdings tumbled 6.00% to settle at $0.1638.
Cigarette manufacturer BAT declined 0.10% to $24.8246 while, FBC shed 0.02% to $1.8345. Retailer OKZIM completed the top five fallers of the day on a 0.02% retreat to $0.4499. Eight counters recorded gains against five that faltered to leave the market with a positive breadth of three.
Activity aggregates were depressed in the session as volumes traded succumbed 41.29% to 929,100 shares while, value outturn fell 11.96% to 3.64m shares. The top volume drivers of the day were Willdale {43.48%), Star Africa (26.90%) and Ecocash (14.73%).
The threesome of Delta, BAT and Econet contributed a combined 66.82% of the total value traded. A total of 62,630 units exchanged hands in the session. Cass Saddle ETF and Datvest ETF added 14.29% and 0.13% to close at $0 .0080 and $0 .0199 respectively.
Morgan and Co Multi Sector ETF edged up 0.04% while, OMTI ETF shook off 0.45% to close at $0.1095. The Tigere REIT advanced 0.74% to settle at $0.6397 while, the Revitus REIT traded 2,200 units at an unchanged price of $0.2200 .-Bulls n Bears
ZSE and VFEX in Positive Territory Amid Improved Liquidity as ZiG Appreciates Against US$
The ZSE reached a 3-week high on Thursday, stretching the recovery from a recent bear run as sustained exchange stability and a mild increase in liquidity following the disbursement of ZiG denominated wages boosted investor sentiment.
The mainstream ZSE All Share Index closed at 97.08 points, up 0.22% from yesterday, 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 -2.9% in nominal terms, which translates to -0.3% in US$ terms. On a month-to-date basis, the ZSE is down -1.8% and -0.2% in nominal and US$ terms respectively.
The US$ denominated bourse, VFEX, wholly recouped prior session’s losses on Thursday as sell-offs slowed down amid a mild improvement in liquidity as seen by increased activity in the overall economy. The mainstream VFEX All Share Index firmed by 0.64% today to close at 97.34 points.
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 -2.3%, against a -1.4% loss suffered in April. On a year-to-date basis, the All Share Index has shed off -2.7%. An aggregate of US$34,480 exchanged hands in today’s session, down from US$322,027 traded in the prior session.
On the currency markets, the Zimbabwe government introduced a new currency on the 5th of April 2024, backed by gold reserves and foreign currency. The Central Bank also announced new monetary policy measures on the same day, further tightening its stance on money supply while, however, slushing borrowing costs from 130% to 20%.
The new MPS highlighted that the currency auction market has been replaced by the Interbank market, which will be used to liquidate all ZWL balances into Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), the new currency. Today, the ZiG appreciated by 0.44% against the US$ to close at 13.22. The Central Bank computes the exchange rate by dividing the US$ by gold price per milligram.
An aggregate of 18 counters exchanged hands in today’s session, with 6 sailing stable while 7 emerged risers. Willdale came out as the top performer for a 2nd consecutive session on notching 13.64% to settle at 4c, followed by Econet which extended gains to a 5th straight session on rising 3.82% to close at 159.37c.
Star Africa recouped prior session’s losses on gaining 1.32% to settle at 0.7c while Delta buttressed prior session’s gains by a further 0.46% to close at 713.51c.Mashhold went up for a 3rd straight session by a further 0.37% to settle at 13.55c, capping off the Top 5 risers’ set.
On the downside, 5 counters partially weighed on the market. SeedCo performed the worst in the session on plunging -13.49% to close at 170.21c, reversing prior session’s gains while EcoCash Holdings extended losses to a 5th consecutive session by a further -6% to settle at 16.38c.
BAT extended prior session’s losses by a further -0.1% to close at 2482.46c, trailed by FBCH which set off prior session’s gains on dwindling -0.02% to settle at 183.45c. OK Zim retreated by a mild -0.02% to close at 44.99c, capping off the laggards’ pack.
Total turnover fell by -91% from prior session’s record to ZiG0.36 million today against a -53% decline in overall shares traded. Delta led turnover contributors in the session, contributing 36% of the aggregate turnover and was trailed by BAT, Econet, SeedCo and EcoCash Holdings in that respective order. Foreign outflows contributed 2.4% to aggregate turnover while inflows were nil.-Equity-Axis