Movers & Shakers: August 17, 2012

African Currencies as at GMT 15:30

Botswana: DCI +0.15%, USD 416

Absolutely dire day in Botswana with value traded amounting to an appalling USD 416 while the DCI gained 0.15% to close at 7,331.97. Engen (590t, +9t) was the only counter to close higher on the day while FNBB (296t, -1t) was the only name that closed lower.

Egypt: Closed for the day.

Kenya: NSE 20 +0.25%, USD 5.18m

A spicy end to the week ahead of the long weekend. Remember that Monday is closed in Kenya for the Eid holiday. Activity was driven by 2 stocks today – EABL and Equity Bank. Both were almost exclusively foreign participation on both sides. EABL saw big volume go through at the KES232 level which is where the name closed, +87bps for the day. Equity Bank was also strong, closing up 1.18% at KES21.50. The stocks that gained the most for the week were Transcentury (+3.1%), Kenya Airways (+1.5%) and Total Kenya (+1.5%) while the top losers included Sameer (-6.3%), National Bank (-5.5%) and DTB Bank (-4%).

Mauritius: Semdex -0.37%, USD 1.33m

Another decent day in Mauritius with value traded amounting to USD 1.33m while the Semdex fell 0.37% to close at 1,724.75. There was some activity in most of the big names with both MCB and SBM falling 0.61% to close at 164 and 82.00 respectively. NMH closed the day 1.69% lower at 58.00. The major contributor towards value traded however came in the form of PBL as a cross off 169k shares went through at 165.

Nigeria: ASI +0.32%, USD 8.82m

Another quiet day which ends a very dull week in Lagos ahead of the 4-day weekend. As has been the case recently, banks are the bellwether for the NSE with the BNK10 +82bps and accounting over half the volume. The outperformance was led by Zenith (+2.46%), Skyebank (+2.25%) and Diamond (+1.92%). Other notable names outside of the banks included yet again NB which traded decent volume yet closed down 57bps at N121.31 while Cadbury and Dangote Flour both had strong days closing up 4.95% and 4.40% respectively. In other news, Nigerian inflation was virtually unchanged at 12.8% in July as price pressures eased after the recent increase in fuel costs.

South Africa: Top 40 -0.51%, USD 1.51bn

The JSE ended the day lower with the Top 40 Index falling 0.51% to close at 31,376 while value traded amounted to USD 1.51bn. Industrials were the day's biggest losers with the Index falling 0.87% followed by Financials and Resources which fell 0.50% and 0.11% respectively. The Rand was trading at 8.34 and 10.25 to the USD and EUR respectively by the time local markets closed.

Zambia: LuSE -0.58%, USD 11k

Dull day in Lusaka with value traded amounting to USD 11k. The names that traded included CECZ, FQM, INVE, LAFA, NATB, SCBL, ZAIN and ZMFA. ZAIN was the biggest contributor towards turnover with value traded in the name amounting to USD 3k. FQM was the second biggest contributor towards turnover with value traded in the name amounting to USD 2k.

Zimbabwe: Industrial Index +0.77%, Mining Index unch, USD 579k

Quiet day to end the week in Zimbabwe with value traded amounting to USD 579k. The industrial sector ended the week on a positive note with the Index gaining 0.77% to close at 133.96. There was a large cross of 29m Art at 0.55 while there was a decent amount of activity in Delta and BAT. RioZim was the only name that traded in the mining sector while the Index closed the day unchanged at 89.04.