Movers & Shakers: March 21, 2013

Nigeria: ASI +0.47%, USD 29.43m

Much better day in Lagos in terms of activity as value traded amounted to $29.43m. Trading was however once again dominated by a few large blocks as 113m Access crossed at 10.30 while there was also a cross of 29m ETI @ 14.00. Banks under pressure yet again with the Bank10 Index falling 0.40% dragged lower by FCMB (-1.63%) and Skye Bank (-1.59%). Nestle managed to bounce back on average volume and climbed 4.32% to close the day at 870.00. Nigerian Breweries came under a bit of pressure, albeit on thin volume and fell 2.08% to close at 163.04.

Kenya: NSE 20 -0.22%, USD 5.8m

Equity turnover jumped 25.6%, with local investors dominating trading accounting for 59% of trades. The NSE 20 index extended its losses posting its 7th straight loss closing at 4,708.56 points, 5.56% lower than its year high. Equity Bank was the day’s top mover accounting for 40% of volumes, buoyed by strong foreign investor demand. Despite foreign selling Access Kenya gained 6.9% to KES 7.70, after management indicated that they expected strong earnings figures FY12. Safaricom on the other hand eased 1.7% to KES 5.85 on continued foreign selling. Nation Media climbed 5.9% closing at a new high of KES 303, after they announced strong FY12 earnings yesterday and a bonus issue. Other top losers and gainers were on thin volumes.

Zimbabwe: Industrials +0.18%, Mining unch, USD 1.43m

The ZSE Industrials posted a second successive gain on the trot rising +0.18% to 186.25pts buoyed by gains in market heavies Old Mutual and Econet on strong demand. Old Mutual was 4.4% firmer at 235c while Econet added +3.87% to 69.71c as demand reemerged in the telecoms giant. The pick of the day however was short term insurers Nicoz Diamond that closed the day as the top gainer after adding +10% to 1.1c. The mining index was flat at 64.79 pts for the third day running as RIOZIM traded flat at 45c while there were no trades in the rest of the mining stocks.