Movers & Shakers: January 28, 2013

Botswana: DCI +0.27%, USD 121k

Strangely enough it was not Leshego that lead activity today but rather FNBB as a total of 307k shares traded in the name with total value traded amounting to USD 121k while the market closed higher with the DCI gaining 0.27% to close at 7,676.74.

Egypt: EGX 30 -1.41%, USD 48m

The market ended the day in negative territories lead by notable selling from local retail investors along with international institutional investors, the EGX30 ended the day down 1.41% to close at 5,608.02 points. Market volumes slightly improved relative to recent market turnovers yet volumes remain weak, the market traded a total turnover of USD 48mil. With deadly clashes between protesters and security forces continues in various Egyptian cities the market witnessed a sense of panic as fears continues to grow towards escalation of violence, adding to this the president declaring Emergency Law and Curfew in the Canal strip which witnessed most of the death tolls in the past couple of days. Names such as OCDI, COMI and TMGH witnessed notable selling today leaving each to end the day down 3.57%, 2.74% and 2.38% respectively. HRHO was the only name in the EGX30 to end the day in positive territories to end the day up 0.66%, its worth mentioning that the firm announced that the QInvest Takeover deal was delayed by regulators yet the former ignored the news and traded in the greens.

Investor mix:
•  Foreigners were net Sellers by 11.14 mn EGP and were 28.61% of the market.
•  Egyptians were net Buyers by 5.95 mn EGP and were 66.60% of the market.
•  Arabs were net Buyers by 5.18 mn EGP and were 4.79% of the market.
•  Institutions were net Buyers by 2.14 mn EGP and were 38.28% of the market.
•  Retail were net Sellers by 2.14 mn EGP and were 61.71% of the market.

Kenya: NSE 20 +0.54%, USD 4.2m

The bourse started the week on a high note, breaking the losing streak it experienced last week. The benchmark NSE 20 index recouped some of last week’s losses climbing 0.54%. Equity turnover jumped 51% during the session driven by increased foreign investor activity. Overall, foreign investor participation improved from 42% in the previous session to 56% today. Safaricom was the day’s top mover accounting for 39% of volumes, with foreign investors being net sellers on the counter. The Telecom eased 3.6% to KES 5.40 on profit taking. EABL and BAT also witnessed high foreign investor activity on both sides of the counters. Of the top movers, Centum witnessed the highest gain (+1.7%), buoyed by strong local investor demand. At the end of trading Friday, the investment firm gave notice that it had acquired a 45% stake of micro lender Platcorp Holdings through a consortium in which it has a 79% shareholding. Kenya Airways remained Largely unchanged (-0.5%) today after issuing mixed 3Q12 operating performance statistics. Kengen was the day’s leading gainer (+7%, KES 12.20) recouping some of the losses made last week.

Mauritius: Semdex +0.12%, USD 883k

Relatively slow start to the week with value traded amounting to USD 883k. MCB accounted for the bulk of the volume with foreigners dominating trade in the counter as 99k shares traded thanks to a few crosses. SBM was rather quiet as 14k shares traded with the name gaining 0.55% to close at 92.00. Foreigners accounted for about 62% of sales in Air Mauritius as a total of 55k shares traded with the counter coming under pressure and falling 2.31%.

Nigeria: ASI -0.35%, USD 50.24m

Extremely active start to the week with value traded amounting to a rather impressive $50.24m. This should however be taken with a pinch of salt as there was a very large cross of 357m ETI at 11.00 ($25m) where both the buyer and the seller were foreign. Banking stocks put in a strong performance with the Bank10 Index gaining 0.52%, lead higher by the likes of UBA (+4.28%) and ETI (+2.34%). The broader market was however dragged lower by Dangcem which fell 4.63%. Consumer names were relatively quiet with low volumes in the likes of Nigerian Breweries and Guinness. Apart from ETI volume leaders came in the form of Access Bank, Guaranty Bank and Diamond Bank.

South Africa: Top 40 +0.26%, USD 1.23bn

The JSE ended the day higher with the Top 40 Index gaining 0.26% to close at 36,157 while value traded amounted to USD 1.23bn. Financials were the day's biggest gainers with the Index gaining 0.41% followed by Resources and Industrials which gained 0.36% and 0.04% respectively. The Rand was trading at 9.11 and 12.26 to the USD and EUR respectively by the time local markets closed.

Zambia: LuSE +0.78%, USD 68k

Much better day in Lusaka thanks to a cross in ZNCO with value traded amounting to USD 68k. The names that traded included CEC, SCZ, ZNCO and ZSUG. ZNCO was the biggest contributor towards turnover with value traded in the name amounting to USD 64k. ZSUG was the second biggest contributor towards turnover with value traded in the name amounting to USD 3.5k.

Zimbabwe: Industrials +1.84%, Mining +1.87%, USD 1.48m

The industrial index opened the week firm, gaining +1.84% to 171.25pts in a continued rally since the year turned. Value traded went down -1.62% to $1.48m whilst the units traded amounted to 11.27m greatly surpassing Friday’s trades of 1.08shares. Sentiment remained largely positive as gainers outnumbered losers by 22 to 3 counters. Notable among top risers was Lifestyle which reversed losses to add +50% to 0.60c, TA added +25% to 10c while firm buying in Afre saw the group rise +23.08% to 8c. Bankers, NMB added a +8.70% to 0.75c after advising the market of impending EGM to discuss additional capital and a circular issued stating that Zimbabwe Exchange Control Authority has granted full fungibility to 40% of company’s issued shares held by foreigners. This means that NMB shares will trade interchangeably between the ZSE and LSE (company has secondary listing). Delta rose 1.92% to 118.26c in strong buying with only 65 006 units trading, sellers are offering at 119c. Econet continues its upward trajectory closing 15c higher at 535c remaining net buyers at the same price. The mining index opened the week strong gaining +1.87% to 78.86pts spurred on by Bindura that increased +13.64% with scrip exchanging hand at 2.5c.The other three stocks were traded at previous prices.

African Currencies