Movers & Shakers: August 23, 2012

African Currencies as at GMT 15:30

Egypt: EGX 30 +1.04%, USD 101m

The market managed to end the day notably higher on above average volumes lead by local retail investors, the EGX30 ended the day up 1.04% to close at 5,215.65 points. Volumes has improved significantly compared to recent turnovers, market traded a total turnover of USD 101m, it’s worth mentioning EAST witnessed a big cross at the EGP80 accounting for more than 9% of the total turnover. The market managed to end the day in positive territories with retail investors supporting the market by being the sole net buyers today, the rally came after a glimpse of hope regarding the IMF loan surfaced yesterday as IMF's Lagarde stated that talks on loan size, strategies to end in 2 months, this gave investors sense of optimism towards the recovery road ahead of Egypt. OCDI witnessed notable buying appetite, the name ended the day up 5.52% to close at EGP20.28 on above average volumes of 4 98k shares.
Investor mix:
•  Foreigners were net Sellers by 10.03 mn EGP and were 21.21% of the market.
•  Egyptians were net Buyers by 22.15 mn EGP and were 69.66% of the market.
•  Arabs were net Sellers by 1.21 mn EGP and were 9.13% of the market.
•  Institutions were net Sellers by 5.82 mn EGP and were 32.79% of the market.
•  Retail were net Buyers by 5.82 mn EGP and were 67.20% of the market

Kenya: NSE 20 -0.05%, USD 3.91m

Acivity picked up today with value traded amounting to $3.91m thanks to a few crosses in Equity Bank with 3.99m shares traded as locals dominated trade in the name. EABL was fairly active with 170k shares as foreigners accounted for 90% of purchases and sales, the brewer is set to release results tomorrow before the open. There was a relatively large cross in Athi River Mining with both the buyer and seller being foreign as a total of 190k shares traded in the counter. NIC Bank announced H1 numbers which saw profits increase 45%. Foreigners remained net buyers and accounted for $1.66m of total purchases while they accounted for $1.42m of total sales. The market closed the day slightly lower with the NSE 20 Index falling 0.05% to close at 3,817.7.

Maur itius: Semdex -0.34%, USD 2.13m

Significant increase in activity today with value traded amounting to USD 2.13m thanks to a cross in Rockcastle Global Real Estate with 876k shares traded at USD 1.05. MCB was rather active as 70k shares traded with the counter closing flat at 163.00 while 68k shares traded in SBM with the name closing at 82.00. Rogers was fairly active as 23k shares traded with the hotel counter closing at 310.00. The market closed lower with the Semdex falling 0.34% to close at 1,706.51.

Nigeria: ASI -0.05%, USD 19.45m

Another relatively active day with value traded amounting to $19.45m. Nigerian Breweries lead from the front in terms of value traded for the second day in a row thanks to a few large crosses as 5.94m shares traded. Guinness was also one of the bigger contributors towards value traded as a total of 1.26m shares traded thanks to a large cross. Banking heavyweight Zenith Bank was once again very active as there was foreign interest in the name with a total of 38.71m shares traded. There were two large crosses in Unilever as a total of 12.56m shares traded. Flour Mills released Q1 results which saw PBT increase 31.66%. The market closed the day lower with the ASI falling 0.05% to close at 23,186.72. The Nigerian oil workers union delayed their strike today as negotiations with the government continued.

South Africa: Top 40 +0.61%, USD 1.69bn

The JSE ended the day higher with the Top 40 Index gaining 0.61% to close at 31,607 while value traded amounted to USD 1.69bn. Resources were the day's biggest gainers with the Index gaining 1.07% followed by Financials which gained 0.17% while Industrials fell 0.09%. The Rand was trading at 8.28 and 10.42 to the USD and EUR respectively by the time local markets closed.

Zambia: LuSE -0.04%, USD 4k

Extremely quiet day in Lusaka with value traded amounting to a dire 4k. The names that traded included CECZ, SCBL, ZNCO and ZSUG. SCBL was the biggest contributor towards turnover with value traded in the name amounting to USD 1.9k. CECZ was the second biggest contributor towards turnover with value traded in the name amounting to USD 1.3k.

Zimbabwe: Industrial Index -0.06%, Mining Index unch, USD 1.74m

Another active day in Harare with value traded amounting to USD 1.74m thanks to a large cross in Delta with 1.94m shares traded at68.2c. DZL and Econet were also fairly active once again with 362k shares and 14k shares traded in the names respectively. The Inudstrial Index closed in negative territory for a fourth consecutive day, falling 0.06% to close at 131.82 while the Mining Index closed unchanged yet again at 89.04 as Hwange was the only counter to trade in the sector with 32,130 shares trading at 22c.