Movers & Shakers: July 05, 2013

Botswana: DCI +0.13%, USD 245k

Another rather boring day in Gaborone with not much on the go except for some activity in Letshego as the counter accounted for 64% of total market turnover with 600k shares changing hands in the name.

Egypt: Closed for the day

Kenya: NSE 20 +0.25%, USD 4.0m

Equity turnover fell 44.4% during the session as foreign investor participation remained high at 61.1% though reducing slightly from 63% previously. Safaricom and Equity Bank were the largest movers of the day accounting for 46.5% of the market. Safaricom was among the leading gainers up 4.7% on foreign investor buying after Vodafone announced plans to set up new Africa regional hubs in Kenya and Ghana to serve East and West Africa respectively. Vodafone plans to enhance significantly the level of support for the more than 600 Vodafone Global Enterprise multinational customers with operations in Africa, complementing the Egypt and South Africa hubs. KenolKobil fell 2.8% on local institutional selling after the exit of the immediate former CEO, Jacob Segman. During the day, Toyota Tsusho received regulatory approval from the competition authority to acquire DT Dobie and Cica Motors (automotive), Laborex Kenya and E.P.DIS Kenya (pharmaceuticals distribution)- all relating to the 2012 Toyota Tsusho acquisition of CFAO Automotive.

Mauritius: Semdex -0.24%, USD 489k

Another dull day to cap off a dire week in Mauritius with value traded amounting to USD 489k. As is usually the case, MCB dominated activity as a total of 58k shares traded in the counter. The banking heavyweights experienced mixed fortunes with MCB falling -0.54% while SBM closed unchanged at 1.02. MCB will go ex-div on Monday and will therefore have a reference price of 180.75.

Nigeria: ASI +1.21%, USD 22.11m

Much better day to end the week in Lagos, but still nothing exceptional with value traded amounting to $22.11m. The increase in activity came on the back of crosses in Guranty Trust Bank ($2.38m), Nestle ($2.15m) and Zenith Bank ($2.12m). Banks were once again on the charge as the Bank 10 Index gained +1.68% with Guaranty Trust Bank (+3.14%) and Zenith (+1.32%) moving the sector higher. Consumers were also very strong with the Consumer Goods Index gaining +0.71% as Nestle closed at N1,000 (+3.09%) while UACN gained 1.87%.

Please note that the index figure above is correct at the time of writing.

South Africa: Top 40 -2.35%, USD 1.16bn

The JSE ended the day lower with the Top 40 Index falling 2.35% to close at 34,684 while value traded amounted to USD 1.16bn. Resources were the day's biggest losers with the Index falling 3.32% followed by Financials and Industrials which fell 2.21% and 1.71% respectively. The Rand was trading at 10.17 and 13.06 to the USD and EUR respectively by the time local markets closed.

Zambia: LuSE -0.63%, USD 107k

Fairly average day in Lusaka with value traded amounting to USD 107k thanks to a cross in SCB. The names that traded included CEC, NATB, PUMA, SCB, ZMFA, ZSUG and PRIMA RE. SCB was the biggest contributor towards turnover with value traded in the name amounting to USD 101k. NATB was the second biggest contributor towards turnover with value traded in the name amounting to USD 4k.

Zimbabwe: Industrials +0.78%, Mining unch, USD 580k

The market gave a nod to the constitutional court ruling yesterday to uphold the 31 July 2013 election date as the industrials rose +0.78% to 215.09pts on strong heavy weight demand. The market movers in perspective included BAT up +2.1% to a new high of 1,200c. Brewers Delta added +0.7% to 141c following reports that the company is experiencing strong demand on its bottled Chibuku beer three months into its launch and is considering increasing production capacity at its Chitungwiza plant. Telecoms giant Econet rose +3.22% to 66.4c as the market welcomed the unveiling of the rebranded subsidiary Steward Bank (formerly TN Bank). Retailers OK put on +3.5% to 24.01c following the company’s announcement this week of its smart partnership with Kawena (Pty) Limited South Africa introducing cross border shopping. Global insurers Old Mutual went up +4.8% to 220.02c on the back of firming Johannesburg and London prices. Other heaves were in conglomerate Innscor +1.1% to 94c and cement manufacturers Lafarge +4% to 105c. Miners ended the week unchanged at 70.12 pts with the sector registering a single trade in BNC at 2.6c. The market was subdued relative to yesterday with volumes down 48% at 2.91m shares while value of trades dropped 45% $0.58m. Likewise foreign demand was depressed with inflows falling -58% to $0.23m and the market was in a net outflow position as sales totaled $0.26m.

African Currencies