Movers & Shakers: November 27, 2012

African Currencies

Botswana -0.39%, USD 2.76m

The mkt took a -0.39% knock but the value traded was very high at just under $3m. The vast majority of the activity is attributable to Letshego – 86% in fact. There were no px movers in the session with very little activity besides Letshego – only 7 names traded.

Egypt: EGX 30 +0.02%, USD 35m

The market witnessed a very cold session leaving the EGX30 to end the day relatively unchanged to close at 5,048.17 points up 0.02%. Market traded notably low volumes, market traded a total turnover of USD 35m. After the president's meeting with top judges and a it was clear that the president will not go back in his decisions, the market traded with a static sentiment as many investors are watching closely today’s protests and fear clashes will break out. International investors along with GCC institutions continue to be the sole net buyers today, local investors continue to decrease their exposure in the market.

Investor mix:
•  Foreigners were net Buyers by 20.43 mn EGP and were 16.99% of the market.
•  Egyptians were net Sellers by 33.45 mn EGP and were 73.05% of the market.
•  Arabs were net Buyers by 13.03 mn EGP and were 9.96% of the market.
•  Institutions were net Buyers by 17.24 mn EGP and were 30.58% of the market.
•  Retail were net Sellers by 17.24 mn EGP and were 69.41% of the market.

Kenya: NSE 20 -0.60%, USD 6.60m

Equity turnover eased 4.5% as local investor participation declined to 28% of trades compared with 50% in the previous session. Safaricom dominated the session accounting for 69% of volumes, with foreigners dominating activity on both sides of the name. After touching a new year high yesterday the counter slipped 3.8% to KES 5, following the communications commission of Kenya(CCK) decision to cut the mobile termination rate to KES 1.44 from KES 2.21 a move that could potentially be adverse to Safaricom. KCB edged down 4.2% to KES 28.50 as local investors looked to lock in some profits, while Equity bank gained 1.1% to KES 24 on foreign investor demand. Stanchart was also fairly active, after its 22.08m new rights issue shares started trading in the market today. The counter eased slightly 0.8% to close at KES 234.

Mauritius Semdex -0.08%, USD 1.2m

It was a quiet session in Mauritius today. The market lacked any conviction, closing -8bps lower while the value traded struggled to get over the million dollar mark. MCB dominated the trading as usual – accounting for 2/3 of all the activity and trading flat at 163.00. SBM , NMG and Terra all gained ground, closing +1.2%, +1.79% and +0.26% better off respectively. Bramer was the lone loser from the Sem-7.

Nigeria: ASI -0.34%, USD 12.97m

There is very little to report about in terms of an improvement in the vols in Nigeria – they remain dire and there is nothing in the s-term to suggest that this will change. The market opened slightly stronger and continued higher before falling sharply in the second half of the session and closing around these levels at -0.34%. There were bigger swings in the prices today which is closer to what we are accustomed to in Nigeria. The Top-tier banks specifically but the banking sector as a whole too took a smack with Access and GTB the exception. ETI -3.39%, Zenith -3.2% and UBA -2.17%. The Bnk10 closed the day -1.32% worse off. Outside the banks only one name is worth a mention in terms of activity – NB was the top trader on the day but managed to lose -143bps by the close. The other consumer names were quiet and stagnant in px. 15 stocks advanced, 23 declined and 57 remained unchanged. The highest value of trades were in FBNH, NB, GUARANTY.

South Africa: Top 40 +0.15%, USD 1.13bn

The JSE ended the day higher with the Top 40 Index gaining 0.15% to close at 33,580 while value traded amounted to USD 1.13bn. Financials and Industrials were the day's biggest gainers with both Indeces gaining 0.13% followed by Resources which gained 0.03%. The Rand was trading at 8.82 and 11.40 to the USD and EUR respectively by the time local markets closed.

Zambia: LuSE unch, USD 123k

Decent day thanks once again to ZMBF with value traded amounting to USD 123k. The names that traded included CEC, ZAIN, ZMBF and ZSUG. ZMBF was the biggest contributor towards turnover with value traded in the name amounting to USD 113k. CEC was the second biggest contributor towards turnover with value traded in the name amounting to USD 8.5k.

Zimbabwe Industrial -0.52%, Mining +0.57%, USD 890k

The mainstream index failed to hold onto yesterday’s gains shedding 0.52% to 152.08pts weighed down by losses in financial stocks. Barclays hit a 52-wek low of 2.4c amid selling pressure, as CBZ eased 5% to 11.4c, Old Mutual was 0.06% weaker at 165c. Banks are scrambling to meet the first threshold of $25m capital levels for banks by the 31st of December 2012 deadline. Fast food giant Innscor lost 2.86% to 68c as it continues to suffer from a dip in market confidence following the resignation of CEO, Tom Brown and the instigation of forensic audit at 80% owned subsidiary group Colcom. Mitigating the losses were gains in retails stocks, EDGARS and OK which gained 2.41% and 0.21% to 8.5c and 14.5c respectively. Delta and Econet were steady at 93c and 491.1c though Delta closed net sellers. Despite an improvement in volumes, they remained low relative to October averages; turnover was below the $1m mark. Volumes stood at 4.65m up from yesterday’s 0.73m while value traded was 44% up at $0.89m. Foreign participation was thin accounting for a paltry $0.162m in buying. The mining index was up 0.39 points (0.57%) to close at 68.58 points spurred by higher bids in RIOZIM (53c from 52c) and Hwange (17.5c from 17c). there were however no trades in the resources sector.