Market Comment - 05.05.2022

Market slips back into the red... The market reversed prior session’s gains in the session amidst constrained demand in selected counters. The All-Share and the Industrial indices lost a similar 0.90% to see the former close at 27589.62pts while, the latter ended pegged at 91024.55pts. The Blue-chip Index slumped 0.57% to 18379.40pts as the Mid-Cap Index further extended its losses by 1.93% to end at 44679.17pts. Retailer OK Zimbabwe led the losers of the day as it dropped 11.29% to $52.3302, followed by Axia that shed 7.70% to $163.5357. Fast foods retailer Simbisa retreated 5.90% to $301.9663 as bankers NMB let go of 5.28% to trade at $35.0000. Property concern First Mutual Properties dipped 4.77% to settle at $9.5165 as it capped the top five worst performers of the day. Agricultural concern Zimplow headlined the gainers of the day on a 14.10% advance to $27.9550, trailed by sugar manufacturer Hippo that ticked up 9.23% to $557.0968. First Mutual Holdings reversed prior losses as it put on 6.04% to $21.0526 while, First Capital Bank extended its gains to $10.5064 following a 3.50% rise. Zimre holdings capped the top five best performers of the day on a 2.77% improvement to $5.5603. Volumes traded dropped 22.02% to see 3.20m shares exchange hands as Zimplow and Econet claimed 58.59% and 11.50% of the aggregate respectively. Value traded declined 52.71% to $325.89m as Econet, Zimplow, Delta and Innscor contributed a combined 77.28% of the turnover. The three ETFs declined in the session, Datvest MCS went down 2.16% to $2.7044, Morgan & Co ETF eased 0.59% to $23.5585 and Old Mutual Top Ten lost 0.91% to $10.8488. On the VFEX, Bindura was 0.40% up at US$0.0500 as 3.33m shares were swapped in the name. Elsewhere, Axia announced that it has acquired a 50% stake in National Foods Limited logistics business, which provides warehousing and distribution requirements, as the group seeks to expand its portfolio.