Movers & Shakers: May 20, 2013

Botswana: DCI +0.03%, USD 1.55m

Very pleasing start to the week in Gabarone with value traded amounting to USD 1.55m thanks to crosses in the likes of Choppies (2m shares) and FNBB (1.6m shares). Market heavyweight Letshego was very quiet with only 4k shares changing hands in the name.

Egypt: EGX -0.35%, USD 39m

The market traded with a mixed sentiment today to end the day in negative territory, leaving the EGX30 to end the day down 0.35% to close 5,432.15 points. The market continues to trade very weak volumes compared to average turnover, the market traded a total turnover of USD 399m. The market started the day with a positive sentiment to reach a high of 5461.05 points, yet after 90 min of trading the market witnessed notable selling lead by institutional investors (local and GCC) targeting names such as OTMT, EKHO and ESRS each ending the day down 2.00%, 1.85% and 1.76% respectively, it’s worth mentioning that international institutions started the day as net-sellers yet managed to end the day as net buyers along with local retail investors. JUFO managed to buck the general sentiment, the name witnessed notable buying to reach a high of 9.50, the former ended the day at a VWAP of EGP9.42 up 2.39%.

Investor mix:
•  Foreigners were net Buyers by 6.38 mn EGP and were 20.52% of the market.
•  Egyptians were net Sellers by 2.56 mn EGP and were 74.84% of the market.
•  Arabs were net Sellers by 3.82 mn EGP and were 4.64% of the market.
•  Institutions were net Sellers by 14.87 mn EGP and were 34.43% of the market.
•  Retail were net Buyers by 14.87 mn EGP and were 65.56% of the market.

Kenya: NSE 20 -0.37%, USD 1.5m

A non-event of a day in Nairobi as ATS systems issues from the NSE meant that trading got halted a number of times during the day which always has the effect of chasing away participants. Equity turnover fell 72%. Foreign investors accounted for just 32.5% of activity, down from 53.6% in the previous session. KenolKobil was the leading mover and loser of the day, down 7.4% as investors got concerned over the impact of a potential expansion plan by the government owned oil National Oil Corporation. It could also have been a relief rally after two strong sessions. There was little demand for the oil marketer by mid day except at the lower prices which saw mainly foreign demand come in to account for 71.5%. Safaricom eased 2.1% to KES 7 on modest trading by large investors. EABL continued marching upwards, climbing2.0% to KES 399 on foreign investor buying. National Bank fell 3.5% as the bank reported 1Q13 results which could have disappointed the market which was expecting a stronger turnaround.

Mauritius: Semdex -0.28%, USD 569k

Slow start to the week in Mauritius with value traded amounting to USD 569k. SBM led in terms of activity thanks to continued foreign interest in the counter while both banking heavyweights MCB and SBM closed the day unchanged. NMH was also rather active thanks to a cross with foreigners on the buy side of name with the counter closing 0.70% lower.

Nigeria: ASI -0.24%, USD 25.3m

The day followed the trend of recent weeks: quiet interspersed with crosses which spike the volumes. Both the banking and consumer sectors closed marginally in the positive yet a selloff in DangCem (-2.13%, N183.01) meant the ASI closed in the red. Banks gained 65bps with moderate buying across the board. No banking names were particular outliers either positive or negative although Skye Bank closed up 2.57% at N5.18. Consumers closed up 49bps with the main strength shown in Unilever (+8.84%, N70.79) and PZ (+9.89%, N49.45). Guinness saw big volumes crossing and closed up 1.09% at N278 while NB fell 1.58% to N176.17.

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

South Africa: Top 40 -0.62%, USD 1.7bn

The JSE was back pedaling and all sectors closed in the red for the day. The Rand continues to remain on the back foot and was trading at R9.46, R14.42 and R12.18 v the USD, GBP and EUR respectively at the time of writing.

Zambia: LuSE unch, USD 9.9k

Absolutely dire start to the week with value traded amounting to a paltry 9.9k. The names that traded included CEC, LAFA, SCZ, ZMBF, ZAMEFA and ZNCO. CEC was the biggest contributor towards turnover with value traded in the name amounting to USD 4.4k. LAFA was the second biggest contributor towards turnover with value traded in the name amounting to USD 3.1k.

Zimbabwe: Industrials +0.05%, Mining -1.51%, USD 590k

Significant trades witnessed last Friday could not be matched today as the weekend effect took its toll resulting in huge dips in the market indicators. Value traded fell -93% to $0.59m while volumes were -61% down to 4.56m. Foreign participation was hugely depressed with only $30,000 in foreign purchases coming through and no foreign selling. Despite the negative trends, firm demand for the market’s top capitalized counter Delta persisted at 143c and the group accounted for 36% of value traded today. Delta is currently trading cum dividend ahead of the 7 June 2013 record date for a final USc2.23 payout. The market’s quietness saw the Index registering a marginal 0.05% to 210.40 points while resources slumped 1.51% to close at 74.42 points.

African Currencies