Movers & Shakers: March 22, 2012

Botswana: DCI -0.28%, Vols USD 357k

Gaborone finally came to life with vols increasing to USD 357k, compared to thin trading which had become the norm over the past few days. The DCI however ended the day 0.28% down at 7057.31pts. Choppies was actively traded in with 598,575 shares trading 10t lower at 150t, accounting for 35% of the day's turnover. Letshego contributed to 30% of the vols with 512,920 shares exchanging hands at 150t. ABCH traded 5t higher at 450t. FNBB was unchanged at 270t.

Egypt: EGX 30 +0.22%, Vols USD 54m

The market ended the day slightly higher, leaving the EGX30 to end the day up 0.22%, to close at 5145.32 points. Volumes were notably weak, market traded a total turnover of USD 54m.The main index the EGX30 was trading lower throughout the session only to see a massive rally once trading on ORTE was resumed. As a reminder, ORTE was suspended earlier during the session after news sources quoted the finance minister saying that the Algerian government had received the valuation for Djezzy, OT's Algerian subsidiary. The rally was not only limited to ORTE but extended to blue-chips in general which witnessed a quick price run before correcting in the last four minutes of session.

Investor mix:
•  Foreigners were net Sellers by 5.31 mn EGP and were 18.41% of the market.
•  Egyptians were net Sellers by 3.96 mn EGP and were 75.03% of the market.
•  Arabs were net Buyers by 5.13 mn EGP and were 6.56% of the market.
•  Institutions were net Sellers by 6.47 mn EGP and were 31.36% of the market.
•  Retail were net Buyers by 6.47 mn EGP and were 68.63% of the market.

Kenya: NSE20 +0.02%, Vols USD 4.50m

Decent day in Kenya today with most of the activity today focused around KCB as value traded in the name amounted to $2.33m as a result of a number of crosses and a few aggressive foreign buyers, the name closed 1.16% higher at 21.75. EABL was relatively active again today with foreign purchases in the name accounting for 99.86% of total purchases (142k shares traded, closing at 200). Equity Bank continued to rally today albeit on small volume with the counter gaining 3.98% to close at 18.30. The market closed on a flat note with the NSE 20 index gaining 0.02% to close at 3,293.91. Total value traded amounted to $4.50m with foreign purchases accounting for $3.37m of total purchases while foreign sales accounted for $399k of total sales.

Mauritius: Semdex +0.16%, Vols USD 586k

The market enjoyed a 3rd consecutive win with the Semdex and the SEM 7 ending the day 0.16% and 0.08% higher. Both banking stocks MCB and SBM traded level today. MLC continued to attract attention with the stock increasing by 8.5%. Rogers increased by 1.37% to Rs77. Terra was up 0.26% to Rs38. Harel and Innodis fell to Rs160 and Rs40. Please note that tomorrow 23 rd March 2012 will be a public holiday in Mauritius and trading will resume on Monday 26 the March 2012.

Nigeria: ASI +1.58%, Vols USD 20.13m

The market closed firmly on the front foot with the ASI gaining 1.58% to close at 21,400.05 while the Bank10 Index gained 2.93%. Another decent day from an activity perspective with value traded amounting to $20.13m Thanks largely to the brewers. Guinness was a bit all over the place today with a book over of about 500k shares going through at 220 early in the session, the name subsequently rallied thanks to a number of crosses to close at 238 (a total of 1.33m shares traded). Nigerian Breweries was once again very active with 16.4m shares changing hands as a result of a number of crosses, the counter closed flat at 98. A number of the big banks were amongst the biggest contributors towards value traded with decent volumes seen in the likes of GTB, Zenith and First Bank. Guaranty Trust Bank managed to stage its biggest gain in over five weeks, gaining 2.61% to close at 14.52 after announcing plans to expand operations in Africa to grow its loan book.

South Africa: Top 40 -1.09%, Vols USD 2.23bn

The JSE ended the day lower with the Top 40 Index falling 1.09% to close at 29,697 while value traded amounted to USD 2.23bn. Resources were the day's biggest losers with the Index falling 1.74% followed by Financials and Industrials which fell 0.94% and 0.56% respectively. The Rand was trading at 7.73 and 10.18 to the USD and EUR respectively by the time local markets closed.

Zambia: LuSE -0.26%, Vols USD 27k

Quiet day in Zambia today with value traded amounting to USD 27k. The names that traded included ZMBF, ZSUG, AELZ, SCBL, ZNCO, LAFA, PUMA, CECZ and BATZ. ZAMBF was the biggest contributor towards turnover with value traded in the name amounting to USD 12k. ZSUG was the second biggest contributor towards turnover with value traded in the name amounting to USD 6k. The Central Bank announced that copper exports increased to 64.073 metric tons in January.

Zimbabwe: Industrials +0.24%, Mining Unch, Vols USD 310k

The main index continued trading in positive territory on the back of gains in Delta and Natfoods despite losses in Econet, Innscor, Meikles and CBZ. Delta recorded a +2.94% recovery to 70c and Natfoods rose a further +4.55% to 115c on solid demand. CBZ lost -5.13% to 5.55c on selling pressure widening its YTD loss to -60.36%c ahead of results briefing next Tuesday. Econet gave up -1.28% or -5c to 385c on selling pressure, Innscor lost -1c or -1.69% to 58c and Meikles eased -3.03% or -0.50c to 16. Market turnover at $310,540, was 60% lower than yesterday’s $768,505 while volumes declined 43% to 5.5m shares in thin trades. Foreign participation remained subdued with purchasing amount to $80,967 from $140,188 yesterday, and sales of $41,247 against $81,224 yesterday. Celsys led the risers adding 20% to 0.06c. Gulliver led the losers shedding 33.33% of its previous value to 0.02c, ZHL eased 8.70% to 1.05c while hospitality group African Sun was 5.33% down at 0.71c. The mining index was flat again today after Bindura and Hwange traded unchanged at 2c and 27c respectively while there were no trades in RioZim and Falgold.