Movers & Shakers: February 11, 2013

Botswana: DCI -0.01%, USD 15k

Dead as a doornail in Gaborone today as virtually nothing happening. Scraps traded in a number of names but absolutely nothing notable to mention.

Kenya: NSE 20 +0.49%, USD 5.8m

The benchmark NSE 20 index gained 49bps buoyed by gains on large cap counters. Equity turnover however fell 18.3% with local and foreign investors accounting equally for volumes traded. EABL was the day’s top mover accounting for 25.3% of trades driven by strong foreign investor demand. The counter, which is set to announce 1H13 earnings on 15th February, climbed 1.3% to touch a new 12 month high of KES 311. KCB was also at a new high, edging up 3.5% to close at KES 36.75, with foreign investors trading actively on both sides of the counter. NIC Bank gained 1.7% to KES 45.75 driven by strong local investor demand. Equity Bank sustained its upward momentum notching up 0.9% to close at KES 27.75 Despite strong foreign investor demand, ARM eased 1.7% to KES 58.50 as investors sought to take profit on the counter. Other top losers were on thin volumes.

Mauritius: Semdex +0.31%, USD 1.71m

Decent start to the week on the Island with value traded amounting to USD 1.71m. MCB dominated once again in terms of activity with a total of 180k shares traded in the counter thanks to a few crosses. SBM came under some pressure with the counter falling 1.05% to close at 94.50 on rather thin volume of 12k. NMH ended the day on the front foot with the hotelier gaining 1.39% to close at 73.00.

Nigeria: ASI +0.60%, USD 27.18m

The bulls continue to dominate as the turnover remains rather active in Lagos. All sectors within the index closed in the green. The banking sector was extremely vibrant with some chunky crosses going through in a couple of the counters. The best performers were FBNH (+2.3%, N20), UBA (+2.13%, N7.66), Diamond (+4.17%, N7.50) and Fidelity (+3.64%, N3.42) as the BNK10 closed up 23bps. Zenith, GTB, FBNH and Access were particularly active. The consumers also saw some love today with NB the most active, closing up 31bps at N164 on good volume while Cadbury (+4.99%, N40.81) and PZ (+9.99%, N44.48) also had good days. Flourmills fell again, closing down 4.99% at N76.01.

South Africa: Top 40 -0.18%, USD 1.1bn

Relatively muted action in Johannesburg today as the Top 40 fell slightly with mixed performance across the sectors. At the time of writing, the rand was trading at R8.91, R11.92 and R13.97 v the USD, EUR and GBP respectively.

Zambia: LuSE +0.98%, USD 46k

Another disappointingly dull day in Lusaka as just $46k changed hands while the index closed up strongly by 98bps. The biggest movers for the day were CEC (-2.5%, K0.78) while ZSUG (+4%, K0.26) was the strongest for the day.

Zimbabwe: Industrials -0.47%, Mining unch, USD 1.33m

Profit taking in big names spilled into the second week as the market opened the week lower despite sharp gains in mid-tier and small-tier stocks. The industrial index was 0.47% or 0.87points lower weighed down by losses in Innscor, Delta, AICO and Masimba despite market breath remaining strong at 10 gains to 5 losses. Market activity improved with volumes rising 166% to 9.83m while turnover improved 23% to $1.33m spurred by trades in Barclays, DZL and Pearl. Foreign participation remained net inflows after foreign investors snapped 70% of value traded against 23% sales. Fast foods giant INNSCOR eased a further 4.08% or 4c to 94c on thin volumes amid selling pressure, Delta lost a marginal 0.02% to 124.98c, AICO gave up 13.04% to 10c. Econet pushed up 0.99 cents to an all-time high of 611c. The mining index was unchanged at 183.11 points after Bindura, Falgold and Hwange traded unchanged at previous levels. Rio Zim closed offers at 45c and bid lower at 30c as investors shy away from the former giant following problems at its Renco mine.

African Currencies