Market Comment - 08.12.2022

Weak trades in Thursday''s session... The ZSE continued to weaken in Thursday’s session as benchmark indices closed in the negative territory. The primary All-share Index came off 0.68% to 14725.40pts while, the Top 10 Index trimmed 1.02% to 8565.42pts. The ZSE Agriculture Index slipped 1.84% to 70.30pts as the Mid-Cap Index gave up 0.45% to close at 33214.84pts. Tyre company NTS headlined losers of the day after dropping 15.00% to end at $10.2000 followed by sugar producers Hippo Valley that succumbed 14.55% to $170.0500. Retailer OKZIM tripped 7.36% to settle at $26.1763 while, bankers First Capital relinquished 5.06% to $10.0179. Cigarette manufacturer BAT was 3.34% softer at $2,890.0000 as it completed the top five shakers of the day. Logistics concern Unifreight was the top gainer as it surged 14.49% to $51.5500 trailed by, clothing retailer Truworths that soared 13.64% to $2.7500 while, TSL ticked up 5.73% to $42.4509. National Foods Limited was 1.96% firmer at $1,125.05000 while, hotelier African Sun capped the risers’ pack on a 1.57% lift to $24.4064. Activity aggregates remained mixed as the value outturn improved 27.43% to $308.80m while, volumes were 8.87% lower at 2.83m shares. The trio of Delta, Econet and Meikles emerged the top value and volume contributors claiming a combined 66.15% of the former and 65.14% of the latter. Other notable value drivers were Innscor and National Foods that contributed 13.61% and 6.47% apiece. On the VFEX, a total of 208,231 shares worth USD$12,383.44 were traded. The worst faller of the day was Bindura that lost 18.64% to USD$0.0240 followed by Simbisa that slid 14.95% at USD$0.2887 as SeedCo International fell 2.80% to USD$0.3295. Padenga gained 0.12% to end at USD$0.2410. Two ETFs registered price movements as Old Mutual ETF shed 12.60% to $5.2441 while, the Morgan & Co MCS shot up 8.51% to $23.0000. The Tigere REIT pared 0.60% to settle at $34.0000.